Introduction to the partnership

This is what we will be doing over the course of the next 50 minutes:

Get an introduction to the term The Partnership.

Reflect on and discuss The Partnership.

Work with the situation map.

Decide what we are going to practise in everyday life.

Person-centred care is based on three important key terms – partnership, patient narrative and documentation. In this first module, we will delve more deeply into the partnership. The module encompasses three course sessions and we will also get to practise and reflect on the material in our day-to-day work in between each session. 

When we have completed the module, we will have developed tangible changes to work with in our everyday lives.

Today, during the first course session, we are getting an introduction to what the term “partnership” means within person-centred care. We are also given the opportunity to reflect on how we are currently working with this. Perhaps we will discover opportunities to improve.

Seeing the patient as a partner is the basis of all person-centred care. 

The partnership involves respecting and utilising the patient’s knowledge of themselves and their wishes as regards their health. In addition, professionals can provide better and more adapted care if they understand the patient’s perceptions and experience, situation and health goals. Being involved in decisions concerning one’s own life and body is a human right. 

The partnership also means that the patient has a responsibility for their own care. The more active someone is in their treatment, rehabilitation or preventative measures, the greater the chances they have of living a healthier life. Research shows that the time professionals spend listening to the patient and planning care together with the patient pays for itself several times over in the form of shorter hospital stays and more reassured patients with a greater confidence in their own capability. 

Person-centering on the person does not mean that patients become “customers” or that health and social care is being adapted entirely to suit their wishes. The partnership involves collective responsibility in which the expertise on both sides is utilised: on the one hand, the patient’s knowledge about themselves and their situation and, on the other, the professionals’ knowledge of diagnostics, nursing, treatment, rehabilitation and evidence-based knowledge.  

Today we often hear patients talk about how they feel like they are at a disadvantage or that they are not being listened to. Making the patient an active partner helps us break this pattern. 

Mutual understanding and agreements between the two parties are vital for the partnership. These agreements must be carried out in a way that that engages the patients, the caregivers, and the patient’s next of kin and should encourage all parties to participate actively.  All agreements should be documented in a shared health plan, accessible for both patients and professionals. What we want to achieve through the agreement is a shared understanding of the situation from the perspective of both the caregiver and the patient. In this agreement, both the patient’s and the professionals’ rights and responsibilities shall be made clear.

What was most interesting in this description of the partnership?

Instructions

• Think in silence for one minute.
• Take notes if that helps you.

What was most interesting in this description of the partnership?

Instructions

• Each person talks about their thoughts.
• Everyone is to have the opportunity to talk during our five minutes.

Now we will use the situation map we started working on during the initial meeting. The goal is to understand how person-centred our work is today and what we could change.

We will now look closer at the two assertions under the heading The Partnership:

A. Shared Expertise

The patient’s health is seen as the collective responsibility of the patient and the professionals and we utilise each other’s expertise.

B. The Agreement

Patient and professionals together have arrived at how health and social care shall function and what the goals are for the patient’s health.

How well do you think these assertions correspond with how we are currently working? Think about the five situations we have chosen to work with and that are set out on the situation map.

Instructions

• Ensure that everyone can see the situation map.
• Focus on assertions A and B under the heading Partnership.
• Reflect individually in silence for one minute.
• Make notes on Post-Its if necessary.

We will now work together in the group. We will go through the five situations we have chosen as being the most important in relation to our patients. Discuss each situation, one at a time, based on assertions A and B under the heading Partnership.

Instructions

• We are to answer the question of how well we believe these assertions correspond to how we are currently working. Entirely, partially or not at all?
• Put a Post-It note, coloured according to the schedule below, in each box.
• The exercise may take up to 20 minutes.

Green

corresponds entirely to how we are currently working

Yellow

corresponds partially to how we are currently working

Red

does not correspond at all to how we are currently working

We will now focus on assertion A under Partnership. You are to individually choose one of our situations and think about what you could do differently considering this assertion in the chosen situation.

A. Shared Expertise

The patient’s health is seen as the collective responsibility of the patient and the professionals and we utilise each other’s expertise.

Instructions

• Choose a situation where you think you can make a difference.
• Think about what you can do differently and practise.
• Reflect individually in silence,
• Make notes on Post-Its if necessary.

Tell the others which situation you have chosen to practise ahead of the next meeting and what you intend to do differently.

Instructions

• Divide the time so that everyone has a chance to talk during the seven minutes.
• Write down the situation you have chosen and what you are going to practise so that you remember.

We now conclude the meeting and the next step is to go out and try new ways of working. Focus on the situation you have chosen yourself but be open to changing other situations as well. Ask someone else in the group for help if you get stuck or are low in energy. Perhaps someone else in the group has good advice. Why not ask patients for help?

Try to note down what works well and whether there are any questions or problems. Having a little notebook or notepad in your pocket may be a good aid.

The next time we meet we will tell each other about our experiences.

Good luck!