Patient- and Family-Centered Care Program Coordinator: Hollis Guill Ryan
 |
|
Hollis Guill Ryan |
In 1999, Hollis Guill Ryan's 33-year-old son, Sam, was diagnosed with brain cancer. During his treatment at the University of Washington Medical Center, Hollis was his principal caregiver. In 2003, Sam and Hollis participated in a focus group convened in conjunction with a visit from the Institute for Family-Centered Care.
Subsequently, Hollis was invited to become a member of the Hospital's Patient- and Family-Centered Care Steering Committee as a volunteer Family Advisor. The Steering Committee is Co-chaired by the Chief Nursing Officer, and Cezanne Garcia, Associate Director of Patient- and Family-Centered Care and Education Services. The Committee is comprised of a wide array of diverse participants, including the Medical Director, nurse managers, clinical supervisors, a chaplain, and representatives from many organizational units including Patient Relations, Center for Clinical Excellence, Volunteer Services, the UWMC Board of Directors, Social Work, and Organizational Development and Training. Members of the Committee put forward their own priorities and discuss what works and what doesn't. Hollis describes her 2003-2004 volunteer experience on the Committee as "spinning straw into gold."
In August 2004, Hollis was recruited to be the Patient- and Family-Centered Care Program Coordinator, a paid half-time position funded through the hospital's Service League. Hollis helps to recruit and place Patient and Family Advisors who serve on various councils and operating committees throughout the medical center. There are now 30 active volunteer Patient and Family Advisors!
Hollis works with three of the Advisory Councils. She take minutes, drafts the agendas, and facilitates the work of the Councils.
- The Perinatal Advisory Council is involved in many projects to improve the quality of perinatal care and to advance the practice of patient- and family-centered care. The Advisors are integral, decision-making members of the team that interviews candidates and selects OB/GYN residents. Questions about patient- and family-centered care are an important part of the interview process. Family Advisors have continued involvement with the residents, assisting them to expand their communication skills. Additionally, the Council works with the educators from the hospital to revise and update educational materials. For example, the Advisors shared their experiences about learning to breastfeed while in the hospital as patients to help determine what changes would be helpful to improve the quality of care and education for new mothers. The Advisors, in conjunction with the Educators, revised written materials to produce a new and improved booklet on breast-feeding.
- The Inpatient Oncology Advisory Council produced a 20-page booklet, the Patient and Family Guide, written for inpatients on the Oncology Units. This is given to patients to explain logistical matters and rounds, and to provide information about the teaching hospital staff. Content is based on information that advisors feel would have been useful to them when they or their family members were patients. This Council established the "Welcome Bag" given to new patients diagnosed with cancer; coordinates Caregiver Retreats to support family members of hospitalized patients; and posted care team posters with names and photographs of each patient's care team to help patients identify the staff who come to their rooms.
- The Rehabilitation Services Advisory Council created a booklet, Rehab and Beyond: Maximizing Your Potential, that provides an in-depth look at what to expect in rehabilitation, including available resources, specific information for patients and their families, what people with serious injuries can expect from the rehabilitation program, and what to expect when they go home. Included are short messages of hope written by patients about their own experiences.
 |
|
Welcome bags for patients newly diagnosed with cancer. |
 |
Volunteer Patient and Family Advisors |
With the help of volunteer Patient and Family Advisors, Hollis administers the "Show U Care" grants, endowed by a former patient. Once a year, grants of $500 or less are given for projects that will improve the experience of health care for patients and families. The "Show U Care" grants have funded the provision of items such as "Gentle Touch" camisoles for post-mastectomy patients, CD players and CDs for patients to use while waiting for care and test results, toys for children who are having radiation treatment that they can take home, and pagers for patients and families to use in the hospital while they are waiting so they do not need to stay in one area.
Hollis helped to develop and now serves on the Aesthetics Committee, the members of which are a mix of volunteer Patient and Family Advisors and paid staff. One goal of the Committee is to reduce clutter in the hospital, resulting in a more welcoming atmosphere. Remodeling is now underway implementing the Committee's suggestions to make changes in signage and reduce auditory and visual "noise."
 |
Patient- and Family-Centered Care Core Concepts: Communication, Information-Sharing, Choices, Respect, Partnerships, Strengths-Based |
Hollis notes the difference in her perspective when participating as a volunteer advisor as opposed to being a paid staff member. As a staff member, Hollis sees and learns more about the inner workings of the hospital. She has a broader and more intimate sense of the issues and their complexities than she did as a volunteer.
When asked how to encourage hospitals to create meaningful ways to collaborate with patients and families to improve care, Hollis recommended enlisting people from all departments of the hospital to be involved in the process. Challenges faced by a hospital in implementing patient- and family-centered care will differ, depending on whether the catalyst for change comes from the grass roots or the highest level of management, or both. Hollis suggests, at least at the beginning of the process, that using a facilitator from an outside organization, such as the Institute, is helpful to assist in meeting these challenges.
Hollis finds her work deeply and personally satisfying. While caring for her son, Hollis was so grateful for access to wonderful medical and humanistic care and appreciated the kindness of others. She views her work, both as the Program Coordinator and as a volunteer Family Advisor, as an opportunity to give back to the institution that gave them so much. Her work also allows her to help improve the care experience for patients and families. In her work, Hollis puts the potentially devastating outcome of and experience with her son's cancer to good use, and in doing so, brings meaning to her own experience, by making a difference in how health care is delivered.
Hollis Guill Ryan studied English literature at Whitman College. She has worked as a congressional liaison for U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard and U.S. Senator Slade Gorton. Currently, she is a program coordinator and a freelance proofreader and editor. Hollis enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren, and loves to garden.