Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Participatory Medicine
Date Submitted: Sep 4, 2018
Date Accepted: Jan 20, 2019
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Meaningful Partnerships: Stages of Development of a Patient and Family Advisory Council at a Family Medicine Residency Clinic
Background:
Partnering with patients and families is a crucial step in optimizing health. A patient and family advisory council (PFAC) is a group of patients and family members working together collaboratively with providers and staff to improve health care.
Objective:
This study aimed to describe the creation of a PFAC within a family medicine residency clinic. To understand the successful development of a PFAC, challenges, potential barriers, and positive outcomes of a meaningful partnership will be reported.
Methods:
The stages of PFAC development include leadership team formation and initial training, PFAC member recruitment, and meeting launch. Following a description of each stage, outcomes are outlined and lessons learned are discussed. PFAC members completed an open-ended survey and participated in a focus group interview at the completion of the first year. Interviewees provided feedback regarding (1) favorite aspects or experiences, (2) PFAC impact on a family medicine clinic, and (3) future projects to improve care. Common themes will be presented.
Results:
The composition of the PFAC consisted of 18 advisors, including 8 patient and family advisors, 4 staff advisors, 4 resident physician advisors, and 2 faculty physician advisors. The average meeting attendance was 12 members over 11 meetings in the span of the first year. A total of 13 out of 13 (100%) surveyed participants were satisfied with their experience serving on the PFAC.
Conclusions:
PFACs provide a platform for patient engagement and an opportunity to drive home key concepts around collaboration within a residency training program. A framework for the creation of a PFAC, along with lessons learned, can be utilized to advise other residency programs in developing and evaluating meaningful PFACs.
Citation
