Patient/Family Faculty Program
Patients and Families Are Uniquely Positioned to Teach Family-Centered Care
Family Faculty Program
Parent and Family Advisory Council member Shari Parker talks with residents as part of the Family Faculty Program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
During early 2004, a group of Family Advisory Council volunteers formed a planning committee to create the Patient/Family Faculty Program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
"Pediatrics is a unique subspecialty; we care for children who are always under the care of others (parents)," said Javier Gonzales de Rey, MD, associate director, Emergency Medicine and director of the Pediatric Residency Program. "What better way to make us more complete pediatricians than to incorporate our families in our decision process and, most importantly, to learn from them how to care for their families?"
What is the Patients and Family Faculty Program at Cincinnati Children's?
At Cincinnati Children's, the Patient/Family Faculty Program is a structured opportunity for patients and family members to participate in the training of health professionals to ensure meaningful interactions and exchanges.
At Cincinnati Children's, the Patient/Family Faculty Program advocates the concept of "consumers as experts" in the care of themselves or their child. The goal is to foster communication, mutual respect, and collaboration between parents and health care providers.
The program includes two tracks: the Family Faculty Roundtable and sessions during the Noon Conferences (the academic classes for the Cincinnati Children's residency program).
Family Faculty Roundtable
In the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (DDBP) at Cincinnati Children's, residents completing their DDBP rotation participate in the Family Faculty Roundtable.
In an informal setting (around a table), family advisors come to share their stories to residents with the objective of presenting their perspectives on selected situations to these physicians-in-training. Each advisor's presentation is about 30 minutes to allow time for questions and interaction between the residents and parents. The entire session lasts about one hour and is held on the third Monday of each month. A faculty physician facilitates the discussion, helping to draw out teaching tools from both the positive and negative experiences shared by the family advisor
Parents share positive experiences; however, negative experiences are used as teaching tools. For example, a parent might ask the residents to consider what they might have done to improve a particular situation.
Renee Rodrigues, MD serves as facilitator for the Family Faculty Roundtable.
Patient/Family Faculty Sessions at Residents' Noon Conferences
Another aspect of the Family Faculty Program at Cincinnati Children's is the design and delivery of classes for the approximately 100 residents attending the mandatory academic portion of their residency: daily Noon Conferences.
Patient advisors serving on the Patient Advisory Council develop and present a 1-hour class on including teenage patients in decision-making and the transition from pediatrics to adult care. Family Advisors develop and present 3 classes (1 hour each) on a variety of topics including how to talk about negative developments/prognosis, guiding a less-savvy family into a positive partnership with the health care team, and what it's like to be a parent of an ill child (the big picture).
Patient/Family Faculty Program Contact Information
For more information about the Patient/Family Faculty Program at Cincinnati Children's, please contact the parent coordinators.
