Strategies Empower Patients to Play an Active Role in Their Hospital Experience
What is needed for successful treatment of hospital patients?
There is a lot you can do. From having the right equipment to truly listening to the patient as they describe their symptoms and concerns, much of the results of care rest on your shoulders.
However, patients also play an important role. They need to follow your instructions, be in tune with their body, and reach out when they feel something is wrong. Unfortunately, many do not do this.
Why Is That?
Ultimately, the reasons will vary between people. But for many, it comes down to a lack of patient empowerment. Many people just don’t feel like they can or should take charge of their healthcare, even under supervision. Luckily, this doesn’t mean that all is lost; nursing empowerment strategies can help. Here are some you might want to implement.
Suggest Helpful Apps
Many patients would like to be more empowered in their healthcare, but they don’t know where to start. Apps often offer quick and easy solutions. Suggest those that help them track their own health history, medications, and more. This will also help them better prepare for future hospital visits.
Promote Quality Content Creators
You don’t have to do all the hard work of educating your patients; there are plenty of content creators happy to do that for you. On your hospital’s social media pages, share content—especially videos and infographics—from quality content creators who you feel put out accurate information in an engaging manner.
Don’t like any content creators? Become one yourself with healthcare educational videos.
Treat Patients Like Partners
You are the expert, but sometimes experts talk down to those around them without intending to. Many patients already feel intimidated by being in a hospital setting; to feel empowered, they need some encouragement.
Make your patients feel like they are active partners in their treatment. This helps develop a sense of agency and encourages them to think more about their treatment and symptoms.
Open Up Online Consultations
Your hospital likely did this during the peak of COVID, but may have stopped. If so, get it going again. Empowering patients in healthcare means opening up multiple roads to treatment.
Virtual consults feel less threatening and also increase the likelihood of a patient scheduling to clarify concerns that would otherwise be left to Dr. Google. Healthcare engagement solutions can help patients feel more involved and empowered.
To discover more, talk to Sequence Health about the best healthcare advertising and patient support.