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Exhibit 10. Facilitating Communication Among Patients, Family Members, and the Care Team

DescriptionWho is involvedOutcomes measured
Understanding which staff members are involved in the patient's care180-182
Structural changes, such as using whiteboards in patient rooms to identify nursing staff or provide written information on who is on the patient's health care teamNurses, patients, families
  • Use of whiteboard found positive impacts on patient's perceptions of nursing behaviors.180
Facilitating communication with physicians183-185
Pre-visit coaching of patients to help them generate concerns or questions to ask physicianCoach, patient
  • Compared with controls, intervention physicians received higher ratings of their communication style and exhibited more patient-centered communication behaviors.183
  • Intervention patients obtained more information per question and exhibited greater involvement during the visit than controls.183
  • Intervention intensity had a clear relationship to improvements in physicians' behaviors; the relationship was less pronounced with patients.183
Using shared care plans / daily goals sheets186-187
Shared care and daily care plans—engaging patients and family members in plans typically used by providersPatient, nurse, physician
  • This literature review did not find outcomes assessed with this strategy.

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Current as of May 2012
Internet Citation: Exhibit 10. Facilitating Communication Among Patients, Family Members, and the Care Team. May 2012. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/final-reports/ptfamilyscan/ptfamilyex10.html