Peer Insights | The Power of Patient-Centered Care
What’s important to know about patient-centered care? PEN’s Aïcha Diallo discusses key aspects and benefits of patient-centered care, the impact of patients engaging in shared decision-making, and treatment adherence in relation to cultural factors.
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Transcript:
Dr. Nicole Rochester:
Every one of us wants to receive care that addresses our individual needs. It seems like a given, but unfortunately, this is not the same story for everyone. I’m fortunate to be joined today by Patient Empowerment Network’s Vice President of Programs, Aicha Diallo, to discuss this important topic. Aïcha, what are the key aspects of patient-centered care? And why is this an important area for providers to focus on?
Aïcha Diallo:
The key aspects of patient-centered care include respecting your patients’ preferences, hearing them out, and really understanding where they’re coming from and what they want. Coordination and integration of care is also very, very important. Providing patients the information and the education that you can provide to them. And if those resources are not available, it’s important to seek the resources and be able to connect them with even additional external resources that they may benefit from.
It’s also providing them the access to care that they need. It’s physical comfort. It’s providing emotional support. It’s that continuity and transition and that involvement of family and friends. It’s making them a part of the patient, a part of them being present, about them making the decision to either engage in a specific treatment option or coming up with the best treatment option for them. And why this is important for healthcare professionals to be aware of is because it allows them to meet their patients and their families exactly where they are and be able to provide them with the equitable care and the services that they need.
Dr. Nicole Rochester:
Thank you so much, Aïcha. Can you speak to the importance of involving patients in decision-making processes at the outset of care?
Aïcha Diallo:
Absolutely. Involving your patient in general and shared decision-making is key. I would say it’s important to be able to speak to your patients and speak with your patients as opposed to speaking at them. It’s about respecting where they’re coming from and what their needs and their wants are. It’s about opening up the door for them to share what their goals are, so they could be involved in their care. It’s about giving them that platform, the autonomy to make their own decisions and to be at the driver’s seat of their care.
Dr. Nicole Rochester:
Thank you. And lastly, Aïcha, we know that cultural factors can sometimes impact treatment adherence. So given PEN’s strong presence in the cancer community, I’d love for you to talk about treatment adherence and its connection to various cultural needs and differences.
Aïcha Diallo:
Adherence is really important. Without shared decision-making I feel that it’s very difficult to obtain as a healthcare professional adherence from your patients. One thing that is important for healthcare professionals to understand is that adherence is an active choice that is made by the patient to follow a daily regimen, whether that is taking their medications or exercising every day or even honoring their doctors’ appointments. And while this may have been a conversation with their patient or even prescribed by the healthcare teams, one thing to keep in mind is that the patient is taking the responsibility for their own well-being and is making those actions, not because they were told, but because they fully understand what needs to be done in order for them to achieve their goals.
And without great communication and without the ability to engage your patients in their care, some patients may feel or may be compliant while they’re not necessarily adherent. So that may create a confusion, but what you really need is both. Some of your patients may not feel entirely comfortable asking you questions that could even benefit them because maybe culturally speaking, they don’t want to question their healthcare professional, they don’t want to question their authority. So they will do as they’re told, but it’s important for patients to be adherent and compliant. It’s important to give them that platform to make them feel comfortable and present in their care, so they could be entirely engaged and empowered.
Dr. Nicole Rochester:
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Aicha. Another wonderful discussion and thank you for your expertise.
Aïcha Diallo:
Absolutely. Thank you very much.
