Pandemic Patient Engagement Success: Maintaining Family Presence Through Partnership

This presentation is relevant for patients of hospitals and residents of long-term care facilities, their loved ones and essential partners in care, and staff and leadership of healthcare facilities. A painful pandemic challenge for patients, families and staff in hospitals was the absence of loved ones or essential care partners through Family Presence/Visitor Policy restrictions. Leadership at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) worked proactively with the Patient and Family Advisory Council and a small, diverse group of Patient Experience Advisors to plan for possible restrictions and consider how best to approach ongoing changes and challenges to the policy expected in the face of the pandemic. The group continues to work together at this time of uncertainty. An initial meeting of eight advisors and leaders took place prior to the World Health Organization’s official announcement of the pandemic. Due to growing concern about hospital infections, the meeting venue was a local coffee shop, hence the group became known throughout the hospital as The Balzac’s Group. Synchronous virtual meetings and asynchronous communication were employed by the group to address concerns and create family presence opportunities on a rapid response basis. Group collaboration remains evident as new concerns arise with the ongoing ebb and flow of COVID-19 hospitalizations, staff shortages and less restrictive family presence policies. This partnership has been pivotal to the organization’s pandemic planning and response, enabling family presence while respecting government directives, organizational challenges, and patient/family priorities. This collaboration informed several new and sustained initiatives including: a virtual visits process, ePostcards, a Care Partner Program, expanded cell phone use in restricted areas, resources for loved ones traveling distances, careful and measured increases in family presence and a family presence policy Exceptions Committee. An unexpected outcome was an increased level of respect and strengthened patient engagement. Factors influencing this success were transparency and trust in sharing sensitive or confidential information, mutual decision-making, frank and honest sharing of both personal and professional perspectives, and active listening. Many KHSC advisors increased their patient partnership activities during the pandemic and felt an enhanced sense of agency in their efforts to improve the patient experience in healthcare. This initiative may be a source of new ideas, inspiration, and encouragement for patient partners and hospital leaders to actively partner in co-design and delivery of compassionate person-centred policies and care, especially during times of crisis. The group continues to be the “go-to” group for family presence policy questions. The strengthened relationship with Patient Advisors has had a spillover effect more broadly into other hospital initiatives and increased awareness of the value of their input. We hope to continue to share this success story broadly to encourage other healthcare facilities to partner with the precious resource of patients, families, and patient advisors, at all levels of health care. We are considering a Patient Advisor led publication in the future.

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