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Family-Centered Care Principles Families Together of NY State, a family-centered care program of the Mental Health Association of Erie County, Inc, characterizes this particular method as a constellation of formal and informal services and tangible goods that are defined and determined by families (complete article can be accessed from the web < web childfamilysupport. php>), the patient and the health care providers. The prime objective is to unite and form partnerships among these stakeholders in order to plan, evaluate and consequently deliver the best system of health care appropriate for the indisposed family member; and consequently, promoting health and well being and in a way restoring dignity and control to them. The parameters of this innovative approach are grounded on the belief that all assistance and support a patient receives during his enervating ordeal will help enhance the safety and quality of the health care provided. This system applies to patients of all ages, yet it does not take away the personal control the patient has on decisions regarding his own health care needs. It can also be practiced in any health care setting though most programs will focused on pediatric and geriatric medicine particularly those patients with chronic diseases and mental / emotional afflictions.
Although most hospitals, clinics and other health care institutions all over the country have been implementing the approach for over 20 years, the process of developing and improving the system was slow yet it is dependable. This paper will try to draw a picture of how these agencies incorporated the four fundamental principles of the system: dignity and respect, information sharing, participation and collaboration in their implementation of health care programs using the family-centered care approach. The paper evaluated three health care institutional programs: (1) Families Together of the NY State Program of the Mental Health Association of Erie County, Inc. , (2) Child-Family Centered Care Program of the East Tennessee Childrens Hospital, and (3) Maimonides Family-centered Care Program of the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. Among the three, the Families Together of NY State Program was able to incorporate to a certain extent all the basic principles of the approach. The program through its various support systems empowers families and respects their choices / decisions thus fostering independence.
The program encourages both patients and their families to seek information, join in discussions, attend and participate in policy making decisions. It also bolsters the family members spirit and hope by providing and organizing groups where they can share their experience to encourage and rejoice in their patients achievement. The big bulk of the program is centered on the access to resources of all stakeholders as well as equal voices in decision making. Notable achievement of the East Tennessee Childrens Hospital in its implementation is the various physical / material supports given to families which gives them a semblance of normalcy amidst the crisis (e. g. a family lounge where family members can gather and even perform activities such as cooking and doing the laundry; permission to parents as well as patients to choose the food to be served; specialized rooms for patient needing large equipment as well as family comfort -- - siblings may stay in the room, play areas put up in places, even in offices, where medical health providers and the family gather for discussion / consultation ; ) The Maimonides Medical Center, on the other hand, concentrates their efforts on the education particularly of their staff and on policy making in collaboration with all the stakeholders.
As of the moment, the focus is on the enhancement training and further education of the institutions staff so they can provide high quality family-centered care and services. Different agencies would have varying focus yet the ultimate goal will be to promote and restore health and well being to the patient as well as to the family. They are all operating from the knowledge and insights from experience that emotional, social and developmental support specially that which is coming from the family are integral components of health care. Gone are the days when families normally hand over all responsibilities to the professional health care providers and assume a "visitor" role whenever a family member became hospitalized. Current health care approaches encourage extensive involvement of every stakeholders, even expanding to the previously closed doors of the operating room for presence during induction of anesthesia (La Rosa-Nash & Murphy, 1996). The families presence and collaborative intervention is an essential part of the patients recovery and rehabilitation.
Reference List Dishion, Thomas J. & Stormshak, Elizabeth A. (2006). Intervening in childrens lives: an ecological family-centered approach to mental health care. Washington, D. C. : American Psychological Association. La Rosa-Nash, P. A. & Murphy, J.
M. (1997). An approach to pediatric perioperative care: parent-present induction. Nursing Clinics of North America, 32: 183 - 199. N. A. (May 5, 2004). East Tennessee Childrens Hospital Homepage.
Child family-centered care in action. East Tennessee Childrens Hospital. Retrieved May 30, 2007 from the World Wide Web. < web >. N. A. (n.
d. ). Maimonides Medical Center Homepage. What is family centered care? Maimonides Medical Center. Retrieved May 30, 2007 from the World Wide Web. < web > N. A... (n.
d. ). MHA of Erie County, Inc. Homepage. The child family support program. Mental Health Association of Erie County, Inc.
Retrieved May 30, 2007 from the World Wide Web. < web >.
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Research essay sample on Family Centered Care Principles
