She’s not a health care professional, but Nettie Engels, in remission after being diagnosed with cervical uterine cancer in 2003, has a lot to teach MCG students.

“There is so much more to patients aside from their illness,” she said. “We have lives, children, grandchildren, careers, and that whole person needs to be treated.”

Mrs. Engels is a member of the MCG Family Faculty, composed of people who have dealt with chronic illness or disability personally or in their family and are willing to share their experiences with students and health care professionals.

“I think the more [students] learn and experience before they see their first patient, the more opportunity they get to think about how they will treat their patients,” Mrs. Engels explained. “In my case, I’m old enough to be their grandmother; I would like to be treated the same as they would treat their grandmother.”

The Family Faculty is just one example of how MCG is integrating patient- and family-centered care into its campuswide curriculum. The university first embraced the philosophy in 1993 when patients and family members were invited to help plan and design the Children’s Medical Center. MCG created a strategic plan to implement patient- and family-centered care throughout the institution in 1997.

“This philosophy empowers patients and families so they are actively engaged in their own health care,” said Pat Sodomka, director of the MCG Center for Patient- and Family-Centered Care and senior vice president for patient- and family-centered care for MCG Health, Inc. “We’ve learned that the quality of care improves when we involve patients and families.”

After the success of the Children’s Medical Center, MCG Health, Inc., which began managing clinical facilities in 2000, incorporated patients’ perspectives in the redesign of several areas of MCG Medical Center, including the mammography area of Breast Health Services and the Neuroscience Adult Inpatient Unit. The MCG Center for Patient- and Family-Centered Care was established in 2004 to help integrate the philosophy into the university’s educational and research mission.

“This is a new way of delivering health care where patients and families are committed partners in the overall success of the whole enterprise,” said Dr. Roman Cibirka, associate provost and vice president of instruction. “We see ourselves as a model of this emerging national trend.”

A Curriculum Committee, chaired by Dr. Cibirka and Ms. Sodomka, last year began incorporating patient- and family-centered care into the curricula of all academic programs. The committee plans to introduce an interdisciplinary course that will be a graduation requirement for all MCG students.

“I think that this type of course may serve a greater value and purpose,” Dr. Cibirka said. “It’s something that may not only be great for the institution but may have extended value to a number of institutions across the state that deliver health professions education.”

Even though the concept is relatively new to the curriculum, faculty and staff have supported the underlying ideas for years.

“Most of the key concepts have always been a part of what we teach,” explained Dr. Gayle Bentley, assistant professor and director of the undergraduate program in biobehavioral nursing. “The Curriculum Committee enables us as faculty from all disciplines to discuss approaches for supporting these concepts. We share the same goal: to instill in our students the value of patient- and family-centered care that will translate into best outcomes for patients and families.”

The MCG School of Allied Health Sciences, which incorporates the concept into lectures and role-playing, has created an instructional video on the topic that will be available campuswide and beyond. “We’re in the process of really putting our hands around it so that our students are aware of what it is and when it is occurring,” said Dr. Kent Guion, the school’s associate dean for academic affairs.

The School of Dentistry plans to incorporate patient- and family-centered care into the design planning for its new building, according to Dean Connie Drisko. “From the ground up, we want this building to reflect our philosophy: Patients and families are the reason we’re here,” she said.

The MCG School of Medicine teaches the approach to first- and second-year students through its two-year Essentials of Clinical Medicine sequence. “The first year, we explore how families influence a patient’s health care and how the patient’s behaviors may impact the families,” said Dr. Peggy Wagner, director of the MCG Clinical Skills Center. “I think that broadens our students’ understanding of how to more effectively communicate with patients.”

Clinical Skills Center labs teach communication skills, techniques to help patients change unhealthy behaviors and the effects of spirituality and cultural influences on health. One class session challenges students to explain to a couple that the husband or wife has Alzheimer’s disease—one of many exercises addressing end-of-life issues.

The MCG Graduate Medical Education Office is developing measurement tools to help residency training programs duplicate the approach used at the Children’s Medical Center and Neurology Adult Inpatient Unit. “We plan to expand this model to the other 37 residencies on campus, something that will require the help of faculty, staff, nurses and residents,” said Dr. Walter Moore, associate dean of graduate medical education.

“We want patients and families to feel fully welcome in the process of care, including them during rounds and when we discuss treatment options. We want the residents to see patients and family members as allies and aids—as very important parts of the health care team.”

- Kim Miller

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