Family Centered Patient Advocacy Training

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(October 6, 2010) Long Island’s first community based patient safety advocate training will be held on November 1, 2010 in Lake Success. The PULSE of NY, program called Family Centered Patient Advocacy Training will focus on the family, friends and community helping a patient through medical treatment including an injury, long term diagnosis or surgery.

According to a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, as many as 98,000 people die in hospitals each year from preventable medical errors. Many more are injured or die in nursing homes or at home. A 2006 IOM study showed that medication errors injure 1.5 Million people and cost billions of dollars annually. The recommendation for improvement includes steps to improve communication and interactions between health care professionals and patients.

In 2006 PULSE of NY, a grassroots patient safety organization, studied the role of the patient and family and the expected relationship between the patient’s community support system and the healthcare system. Through focus groups, surveys and interviews, PULSE of NY developed the handbook “Family Centered Patient Advocacy.” A curriculum was built around the information from that book and small group trainings have been offered since 2007. The training has evolved to include Critical Communication skills, simulations of true experiences and quizzes to test the audience’s skills.

This full day of training will cover skills needed to help a family member feel empowered, understand the healthcare system better, or begin a new career of advocacy.

“We focus on safety,” says Ilene Corina, President and founder of PULSE of NY. “While we are being encouraged to partner with the medical team, no one has given us the skills to do that.” Corina has been a bedside advocate and has been helping families understand their rights in hospitals for the past three years. She has been a patient safety educator on Long Island since 1997 and lectures extensively throughout the country at medical conferences and communities about the patient and family role in patient safety.

Classes will be small so early registration is encouraged. Register here.