Patient- and Family-Centered Care Program Coordinator: Hollis Guill Ryan
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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 Director of Professional Practice and Patient- and Family- Centered Care. The Chief Nursing Officer attends frequently. The Committee is comprised of a wide array of diverse participants, including nurse managers, clinical supervisors, a chaplain, and representatives from many organizational units including Patient Relations, Center for Clinical Excellence, and Volunteer Services. Members of the committee worked with the executive team to incorporate the principles of patient- and family-centered care into the medical center's operating plan so that these principles guide every patient and family encounter. The goal is for every employee to exhibit behaviors that demonstrate patient- and family-centered care values.
In August 2004, Hollis was recruited to be the Patient- and Family-Centered Care Program Coordinator, a paid part-time position. 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 75 active volunteer patient and family advisors!
Hollis works with each of the six advisory councils, facilitating their work. The original three councils are:
- 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, advisors shared their experiences as hospital patients learning to breastfeed to help determine what changes would improve the quality of care for, and education of, 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 designed 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.
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Welcome bags for patients newly diagnosed with cancer. |
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Volunteer Patient and Family Advisors |
The three most recently formed councils are the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Advisory Council, the Intensive Care Units Advisory Council, and the Outpatient Advisory Council. Additional work of the councils is featured in the UWMC profile.
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. The original goal of the committee was to reduce clutter in the hospital, to produce a more welcoming atmosphere. Adoption of the committee's suggestions improved signage and reduced auditory and visual "noise." The committee continues to work to simplify wayfinding and help the hospital provide a healing environment.
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Patient- and Family-Centered Care Core Concepts: Communication, Information-Sharing, Choices, Respect, Partnerships, Strengths-Based |
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 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 "spins straw into gold" by putting the potentially devastating outcome of and experience with her son's cancer to good use. 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.