Extended abstract: Scripting the context of care: A script-theory approach to designing patient-centered heath communication

Author(s):  
Kirk St. Amant
2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-82
Author(s):  
Jean E. Conacher

Youth literature within the German Democratic Republic (GDR) officially enjoyed equal status with adult literature, with authors often writing for both audiences. Such parity of esteem pre-supposed that youth literature would also adopt the cultural–political frameworks designed to nurture the establishment of socialism on German soil. In their quest to forge a legitimate national literature capable of transforming the population, politicians and writers drew repeatedly upon the cultural heritage of Weimar classicism and the Bildungsroman, Humboldtian educational traditions and Soviet-inspired models of socialist realism. Adopting a script theory approach inspired by Jean Matter Mandler, this article explores how directive cultural policies lead to the emergence of multiple scripts which inform the nature and narrative of individual works. Three broad ideological scripts within GDR youth literature are identified which underpin four distinct narrative scripts employed by individual writers to support, challenge and ultimately subvert the primacy of the Bildungsroman genre. A close reading of works by Strittmatter, Pludra, Görlich, Tetzner and Saalmann reveals further how conceptual blending with classical and fairy-tale scripts is exploited to legitimise and at times mask critique of transformation and education inside and outside the classroom and to offer young protagonists a voice often denied their readers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 95-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Patterson ◽  
Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders ◽  
Carolyn M. Sommerich ◽  
Steven A. Lavender ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
...  

Objectives: To identify patient needs and expectations that can be utilized to inform the design or renovation of medical–surgical patient rooms in a hospital. Background: There is an increased interest in supportive room design to increase patient satisfaction and improve the healing process. Methods: Patients’ and family caregivers’ reactions were elicited to intentional room elements embedded in a set of five full-scale simulated room prototypes. Small groups of patients and caregivers toured two of the five rooms and provided verbal and written evaluations of room features. A grounded theory approach was employed to generate a codebook, identify the frequency of codes, and to group codes and memos into emerging themes. Insights from emergent themes were compared with findings from written surveys on the importance of various room design elements completed at the beginning of each session. Results: A theoretical design framework was generated, showing patients expect a hospital room that provides them with the core components of comfort to support healing, facilitates a strong sense of connection to people and the outside world, enables quick and independent access to the patient’s things, and offers suitable levels of control to the patient throughout their hospital stay. Conclusions: The implications for assisting architects, healthcare planners, and interior space designers are described using this framework, as well as its potential for design guidance. In addition, the connection between patient-centered room elements and relevant survey questions in publicly reported patient satisfaction scores for hospitals is discussed.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Scheck McAlearney ◽  
Cynthia J Sieck ◽  
Alice Gaughan ◽  
Naleef Fareed ◽  
Jaclyn Volney ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Patient portals are a promising instrument to improve patient-centered care, as they provide patients information and tools that can help them better manage their health. The implementation of portals in both the inpatient and outpatient setting gives health care providers an opportunity to support patients both during hospitalization and after discharge. Thus, there is a need to better understand how inpatient and outpatient portals are used across care contexts. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine patients’ perceptions of using inpatient and outpatient portals across the care settings, including how they used the portals and the benefits and concerns associated with portal use. METHODS This study was conducted in a large Midwestern academic medical center consisting of seven hospitals. We interviewed 120 patients who had used an inpatient portal during their hospitalization, at 15 days and 6 months postdischarge, to determine their perspectives of portal use in both hospital and outpatient settings. Interview transcripts were analyzed inductively and deductively by using team coding processes consistent with a grounded theory approach. RESULTS Interviews focused on three main areas of portal use: experience with the portal features, perceived benefits, and concerns. Responses at 15 days (n=60) and 6 months (n=60) postdischarge were consistent with respect to perceptions about portal use. Patients identified viewing their health information, managing their schedule, and communicating with providers as notable activities. Convenience, access to information, and better engagement in care were indicated as benefits. Concerns were related to technology issues and privacy/security risks. CONCLUSIONS Implementation of inpatient portals as a complement to outpatient portals is increasing and can enable patients to better manage aspects of their care. Although care processes vary substantively across settings, the benefits of convenience, improved access to information, and better engagement in care provide opportunities for portal use across care settings to support patient-centered care.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir H Zamanipoor Najafabadi ◽  
Johannes P M van de Mortel ◽  
Daniel J Lobatto ◽  
Dieta R Brandsma ◽  
Wilco C Peul ◽  
...  

Abstract Background It has been suggested that lack of ongoing registration of patient-centered outcomes has resulted in existing care trajectories that have not been optimized for sequelae experienced by meningioma patients. This study aimed to evaluate the structure of current meningioma care and identify issues and potential high-impact improvement initiatives. Methods Using the grounded theory approach, a thematic framework was constructed based on the Dutch Comprehensive Cancer Organisation survey about issues in meningioma care trajectories. This framework was used during 3 semistructured interviews and 2 focus groups with patient-partner dyads (n = 16 participants), and 2 focus groups with health care providers (n = 11 participants) to assess issues in current meningioma care trajectories and possible solutions, including barriers to and facilitators for implementation. Results Identified issues (n = 18 issues) were categorized into 3 themes: availability and provision of information, care and support, and screening for (neurocognitive) rehabilitation. A lack of information about the intervention and possible outcomes or complications, lack of support after treatment focusing on bodily and psychological functions, and reintegration into society were considered most important. Sixteen solutions were suggested, such as appointment of case managers (solution for 11/18 issues, 61%), assessment and treatment by physiatrists (22%), and routine use of patient-reported outcome measures for patient monitoring (17%). Barriers for these solutions were lack of budget, capacity, technology infrastructure, and qualified personnel with knowledge about issues experienced by meningioma patients. Conclusions This study identified issues in current multidisciplinary meningioma care that are considered unmet needs by patients, partners, and health care providers and could guide innovation of care.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively analyze metacommunication during the digital storytelling (DST) workshop process for patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Methods: HCT survivors who had undergone transplant within the past 2 years were recruited at a cancer center in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. Participants (M age = 51.5 years) attended a 3-day DST workshop telling and creating digital stories around their HCT experiences. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, line by line coding and content analysis were conducted with four research team members. Results: Four themes emerged from the data: (1) communal connection; (2) expressing and processing emotions; (3) self-empowerment; and (4) multi-dimensional coping. Participants described telling and sharing their story with other HCT patients as therapeutic. Conclusion: DST shows promise as a potential coping tool and offers multiple dimensions of the role of narrative as a coping technique, in community building, and in patient-centered contexts within HCT.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Yunan Chen ◽  
Shazia Ashfaq ◽  
Kristin Bell ◽  
Alan Calvitti ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective Electronic health records (EHRs) have great potential to improve quality of care. However, their use may diminish “patient-centeredness” in exam rooms by distracting the healthcare provider from focusing on direct patient interaction. The authors conducted a qualitative interview study to understand the magnitude of this issue, and the strategies that primary care providers devised to mitigate the unintended adverse effect associated with EHR use. Methods and Materials Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 healthcare providers at 4 Veterans Affairs (VAs) outpatient primary care clinics in San Diego County. Data analysis was performed using the grounded theory approach. Results The results show that providers face demands from both patients and the EHR system. To cope with these demands, and to provide patient-centered care, providers attempt to perform EHR work outside of patient encounters and create templates to streamline documentation work. Providers also attempt to use the EHR to engage patients, establish patient buy-in for EHR use, and multitask between communicating with patients and using the EHR. Discussion and Conclusion This study has uncovered the challenges that primary care providers face in integrating the EHR into their work practice, and the strategies they use to overcome these challenges in order to maintain patient-centered care. These findings illuminate the importance of developing “best” practices to improve patient-centered care in today’s highly “wired” health environment. These findings also show that more user-centered EHR design is needed to improve system usability.


Author(s):  
Jaume Morera-Balaguer ◽  
Mari Carmen Martínez-González ◽  
Sonia del Río-Medina ◽  
Víctor Zamora-Conesa ◽  
Marina Leal-Clavel ◽  
...  

Currently, in the scientific literature there is a great interest on the study of strategies to implement patient-centered care. One of the main tools for this is the therapeutic relationship. Some studies suggest that the perception of the environment in which the physical therapy treatment takes place can influence the perception of its quality. A qualitative study using focus groups was performed. Two researchers conducted the focus groups, using a topic guide with predetermined questions. The focus group discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically using a modified grounded theory approach. The setting was three hospitals and six public health centers located in Spain. The inclusion criteria were patients who had received a minimum of 15 physical therapy sessions and with no communication impairments. Thirty-one participants in four focus groups. Participants described a series of specific experiences relating to the environment, which they felt were influential in the establishment of therapeutic patient-centered relationships, including eight physical factors and five organizational factors. The results of this study highlight environmental factors that affect the quality of the therapeutic patient-centered relationship in physical therapy and emphasize the need for physical therapists and administrators to rethink the situation and propose strategies for improvement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 352-370
Author(s):  
Shahnjayla K. Connors ◽  
Isabel Martinez Leal ◽  
Vijay Nitturi ◽  
Chisom N. Iwundu ◽  
Valentina Maza ◽  
...  

Objectives: Breast reconstruction (BR) potentially can improve quality of life in postmastectomy breast cancer survivors (BCS); however, African-American women are less likely to undergo BR than Caucasian women. This qualitative study was undertaken to explore individual, sociocultural, and contextual factors influencing African-American women's BR decision-making processes and preferences. Methods: Postmastectomy African-American BCS with and without BR participated in semi-structured interviews. We adopted a grounded theory approach using the constant comparison method to understand the contexts and processes informing participants' BR decision-making. Results: Twenty-three women participated, of whom 17 elected BR and 6 did not. Whereas women's primary reasons for deciding for or against BR differed, our core category, "empowered choices ," describes both groups' decision-making as a process focused on empowering themselves physically and/or psychologically, through self-advocacy, informed and shared decision-making, and giving back/receiving communal and spiritual support from church and African-American survivor groups. Socioeconomic factors influenced women's access to BR. Women preferred autologous BR and expressed the need for greater culturally-matched resources and support to inform treatment and shared BR decision-making. Conclusions: Understanding and supporting African-American women's BR preferences and empowerment is essential to ensuring equal access, and culturally-relevant, high-quality, and informed patient-centered care.


Author(s):  
Xudong Weng ◽  
O.F. Sankey ◽  
Peter Rez

Single electron band structure techniques have been applied successfully to the interpretation of the near edge structures of metals and other materials. Among various band theories, the linear combination of atomic orbital (LCAO) method is especially simple and interpretable. The commonly used empirical LCAO method is mainly an interpolation method, where the energies and wave functions of atomic orbitals are adjusted in order to fit experimental or more accurately determined electron states. To achieve better accuracy, the size of calculation has to be expanded, for example, to include excited states and more-distant-neighboring atoms. This tends to sacrifice the simplicity and interpretability of the method.In this paper. we adopt an ab initio scheme which incorporates the conceptual advantage of the LCAO method with the accuracy of ab initio pseudopotential calculations. The so called pscudo-atomic-orbitals (PAO's), computed from a free atom within the local-density approximation and the pseudopotential approximation, are used as the basis of expansion, replacing the usually very large set of plane waves in the conventional pseudopotential method. These PAO's however, do not consist of a rigorously complete set of orthonormal states.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document