Information age at BWH- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Information age at BWH- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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February 25, 2000
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In This Issue:
BWH's Staff Musicians
BWH/Faulkner Help Patients Trim Down
Obituary
Information age at BWH
Pike Notes
Teen Health Center Celebrates
It used to be that patients were admitted to BWH the day before surgery, but with advances in health care and changes in the system, patients are now admitted on the day of the procedure. During that preoperative day, caregivers explained much of what the patient was about to experience, giving them information on what they could expect during their hospital stay. The change also means that patients are no longer at the hospital as long as they used to be, when they had the opportunity to learn indepth how to care for themselves once they were discharged. Although patients stays are shorter, the need to inform them has not changed. That’s why, over the last year, efforts to prevent an information gap have been underway throughout the hospital. The Health Promotion and Education Committee, chaired by Michael Weinblatt, MD, includes representatives from marketing and information systems as well as care providers began to develop patient education materials with this simple premise, “How can we help the patient stay healthy?” Says Laura Rossi, director, Health Promotion and Education, “The therapeutic value of communication should not be underestimated. Such communication is an important part of a patient’s care.” The education packets for pre-operative and discharge planning produced by this group were tested with patients last summer and came into wide-spread use in the fall. Now patients receive information packets before they are admitted. The pre-operative packet contains booklets and worksheets to help patients ask good questions of their caregivers, provides information about post-operative pain and how to deal with it, and lists other resources available within the hospital. The discharge packet provides a list of signs and symptoms to watch for after discharge and a worksheet to plan when a patient can resume normal activities, among other information. In both packets, departments can easily add specialized material for their patients. “Patients appreciate the information packets,” says Rossi. “Even patients who have been at the hospital for surgery in the past have told us how much they appreciate the information we provide in advance of the hospital stay. It relieves some of their anxiety and, we hope, ultimately leads to better outcomes.” Information packets are one of many ways BWH teaches patients. Look for articles in the future on the new closed-circuit television system and online teaching tools.