How can you ensure patient preferences are respected in team-based care?

Team-based care is a collaborative approach to health care delivery that involves different professionals working together to provide comprehensive and coordinated care to patients. However, team-based care can also pose some challenges for respecting patient preferences, especially when there are conflicting opinions, values, or goals among team members or between the team and the patient. How can you ensure patient preferences are respected in team-based care? Here are some tips to help you advocate for your patients and promote shared decision making in a team setting.

1 Understand patient preferences

The first step to respecting patient preferences is to understand what they are and why they matter to the patient. You can do this by asking open-ended questions, listening actively, and clarifying any misunderstandings. You can also use tools such as preference cards, decision aids, or advance directives to elicit and document patient preferences. Understanding patient preferences can help you identify their goals, values, and priorities, as well as any barriers, concerns, or fears they may have.

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Alia G. Alkhub

Cx , Px , Person-centered Care consultant & Specialist
From a patient experience and person-centered care perspective, it is crucial to prioritize understanding patient preferences. By actively listening and involving patients in decision-making processes, healthcare providers can create a supportive and personalized environment. This approach encourages collaboration, fosters trust, and ensures that care aligns with each individual's unique needs and values. Ultimately, such person-centered care leads to improved patient satisfaction, engagement, and overall health outcomes.
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Romi Lee Brutsche

Aged Care Specialist
What the patient wants should always comes first. The problem is these days a lot of doctors prescribe a new medication and your treatment disregard what the current treatment of medications are. It’s really important to make sure you ask what the patient wants day today, for their care, and make sure they’re properly informed of all options they can choose from
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Candy Gan

Preventive & Community Care | Patient Advocate | 2-time TEDx Speaker | Children's Book Author
I urge those working in positions who can elicit these preferences from patients, that *when* you ask is just as important as *how* you ask. For instance, if you've done planning for service adjustments or improvements, asking patients for feedback towards the end will not be as helpful if your aim was to make things more patient centric. As a patient & advocate, being asked early helped me see that my voice mattered in the HCP or HCI's decision making, and made me feel less like a passive recipient of what medical teams decided for me.
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2 Communicate patient preferences

The second step to respecting patient preferences is to communicate them effectively to the rest of the team. You can do this by using clear and respectful language, providing relevant and accurate information, and highlighting the benefits and risks of different options. You can also use techniques such as SBAR (situation, background, assessment, recommendation) or SOAP (subjective, objective, assessment, plan) to structure your communication and ensure you cover the essential points. Communicating patient preferences can help you build trust and rapport with the team, as well as inform and influence their decisions.

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Clare Batkin - Your OT Tutor

Helping OTs to succeed | Proud #OTNerd 🤓 | Enhancing Skills, Confidence, and Happiness | Open to questions and collaborations to help OTs Learn, Grow and Excel! | Owner of Your OT Tutor
Clear written communication is important, but in many situations, a group meeting involving the multidisciplinary team, the client and their family is essential to ensure everyone is on the same page. Ideally before the client and family are invited into the meeting, the team should discuss their understanding of the client's situation and decide on a consistent approach, so that the client is not given confusing, mixed messages from different team members during the meeting, which may undermine their trust in the team's competence. It is then essential that clients/families are given the opportunity to raise concerns, and discuss priorities, before deciding on a definite course of action.
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3 Negotiate patient preferences

The third step to respecting patient preferences is to negotiate them with the team and the patient. You can do this by acknowledging and addressing any disagreements, conflicts, or ethical dilemmas that may arise, using evidence-based guidelines and best practices to support your arguments, and seeking consensus or compromise when possible. You can also use strategies such as motivational interviewing, conflict resolution, or mediation to facilitate dialogue and collaboration. Negotiating patient preferences can help you balance the interests and needs of all parties, as well as respect the autonomy and dignity of the patient.

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4 Implement patient preferences

The fourth step to respecting patient preferences is to implement them in the care plan and the care delivery. You can do this by ensuring the care plan reflects the patient's choices and goals, involving the patient and the team in the implementation process, and monitoring and evaluating the outcomes and feedback. You can also use tools such as care pathways, checklists, or reminders to standardize and optimize the care delivery. Implementing patient preferences can help you improve the quality and safety of care, as well as enhance the satisfaction and adherence of the patient.

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Romi Lee Brutsche

Aged Care Specialist
Care plan - care plan - care plan. It needs to be on the care plan so that everyone will adhere to it. If there is something written on a care plan or multidisciplinary teams will abide and adhere. Also progress notes and documentation is imperative to make sure patient preference is acknowledged by members of the multidisciplinary team. If a patient preference is identified, it needs to be acknowledged, and documented in the progress notes and any other documents for patient preferences e.g. hospital forms policies and procedures.
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5 Review patient preferences

The fifth step to respecting patient preferences is to review them periodically and adjust them as needed. You can do this by following up with the patient and the team regularly, assessing the progress and impact of the care plan, and identifying any changes or challenges that may affect the patient's preferences. You can also use methods such as audits, surveys, or focus groups to measure and improve the performance and outcomes of the team-based care. Reviewing patient preferences can help you ensure they are still valid and relevant, as well as respond to the changing needs and circumstances of the patient.

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6 Support patient preferences

The sixth and final step to respecting patient preferences is to support them throughout the care journey. You can do this by providing emotional, informational, and practical support to the patient and the team, advocating for the patient's rights and interests, and empowering the patient to participate and self-manage their care. You can also use resources such as peer support, education, or coaching to enhance the skills and confidence of the patient and the team. Supporting patient preferences can help you foster a positive and respectful relationship with the patient and the team, as well as promote the well-being and recovery of the patient.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you ensure patient preferences are respected in team-based care?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Understand patient preferences

2 Communicate patient preferences

3 Negotiate patient preferences

4 Implement patient preferences

5 Review patient preferences

6 Support patient preferences

7 Here’s what else to consider

Patient Advocacy

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How can you ensure patient preferences are respected in team-based care?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Understand patient preferences

2 Communicate patient preferences

3 Negotiate patient preferences

4 Implement patient preferences

5 Review patient preferences

6 Support patient preferences

7 Here’s what else to consider

Patient Advocacy

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