Bringing patient advisors to the bedside: a promising avenue for improving partnership between patients and their care team

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative model of care, which brings patients who have already been through a similar experience of illness (patient advisors) directly to the bedside of patients, where they are viewed as full-fledged members of the clinical team. As part of a pilot project, three patient advisors were recruited and met with patients who had sustained a traumatic amputation and were admitted to the only center of expertise in replantation of the upper limb in Canada. Several individual interviews and focus groups with patients and patient advisors have revealed very promising results. Indeed, patients have expressed tremendous appreciation for their meetings and interactions with patient advisors. They have stated feeling less isolated, having a better morale and increased hopefulness regarding the outcome of the care pathway. Patient advisors also felt a positive impact of their involvement. A larger study needs to be conducted to determine the impact of this model of care on patient adherence to treatment and on members of the health care team.

Keywords

• patient partnership
• peer support
• patient advisors
• communication
• quality of care
• model of care