Condition Help: 10 years of experience enhancing our culture of family engagement

Abstract

“Condition Help” is a family activated rapid response team designed to enhance a partnership between providers and the family. Calling a “Condition Help” results in the rapid arrival of a response team (physician, nurse administrator and patient representative) that assesses the clinical status, listens to families’ concerns and promotes communication to move clinical care forward. “Condition Help” has been an active program for the last 10 years at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) and has assisted in the care of 608 patient encounters. This article outlines the experience gained using this vital program, summarizes our model, and reviews what we have learned.

Keywords

• patient-direct rapid response team
• communication
• family engagement