Sustainability approach to patient centered health care delivery

Summary

Presenter: Alicia Mason, Pittsburg State University

Co-authors:
Catherine Hooey
, Pittsburg State University
James Triplett, Pittsburg State University

The goals of this paper are (1) to provide an overview of sustainability-enhanced approaches to patient-centered health care (2) to examine health communication in the sustainability context through multiple forms, channels and messages, and (3) to provide professional resources for increasing  capacity building between patients, health care providers and the communities they serve.  and promotion of health services, (c) engagement and community outreach, and (d) health care policies that contribute to the long term co-benefits of sustainable health care systems.

OnAir Post: Sustainability approach to patient centered health care delivery

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Dr. Marc Edwards Presents the AASHE 2016 Opening
Published Nov. 22, 2016 | AASHE

Marc Edwards, Virginia Tech Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is a renowned expert on water contamination and MacArthur “genius” grant recipient, Dr. Edwards led the research teams that uncovered severe water quality problems in Flint, Michigan and Washington D.C. In both cases, Dr. Edwards successfully challenged government agencies who had previously dismissed the risks of contamination.

He presented the opening keynote address at the 2016 AASHE Conference & Expo in Baltimore, Maryland.

Abstract

“Towards a sustainability-enhanced approach to patient centered health care Delivery”

Our ability to adapt to the forthcoming population growth of the aging community, while proactively addressing future demands on our natural resources vital to supporting and sustaining human health and welfare and responding to changing climate systems will be a challenge for the global health care industry. This manuscript argues that omni-channel communication mechanisms supported through a sustainability-enhanced approach to patient centered care is optimal for effective long-term health care delivery.

As a pragmatic term, “sustainability” provides a paradigm for thinking about the future in which economic, environmental and social equality are intertwined and balanced in the pursuit of improved quality of life (UN, 2011). We use this conceptual definition as a lens into the role of sustainabilityenhanced, patient-centered health care delivery and health communication practices. Today hospital organizations face a paradoxical challenge between treating illness and disease in order to restore and promote health, while avoiding the utilization of resources that degrade the environment, and result in biproducts that lead to additional disease and illness. In the health care industry sustainability is increasingly seen as “a logical extension of a hospital’s mission to care for people and is consistent with the patient-centered philosophy,” (Guenther & Atwood, 2006, pg 46). Considerations towards building materials, water consumption, energy use, waste management and food systems provide applied health communicators with new opportunities to share important sustainability-related messages across multiple channels to both internal stakeholders (i.e., employees, volunteers) and external stakeholders (i.e., regional partners, donors, networks, suppliers, tour groups, local communities) while also enhancing patient and provider experiences. Sustainability-enhanced patient-centered care, if implemented properly, can create an authentic narrative between healthcare organizations and the patients they serve.

The goals of this paper are (1) to provide an overview of sustainability-enhanced approaches to patient-centered health care (2) to examine health communication in the sustainability context through multiple forms, channels and messages, and (3) to provide professional resources for increasing capacity building between patients, health care providers and the communities they serve. In doing so we provide an in-depth look into the role of sustainability-related decision-making and health communication practices involving (a) facility design and operations, (b) the marketing and promotion of health services, (c) engagement and community outreach, and (d) health care policies that contribute to the long term co-benefits of sustainable health care systems.

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