Patient Participation in Health Care

This article discusses the importance of patient participation in health care. It explores the impact of patient participation on behavioral changes, medication adherence, and error detection and prevention. The article emphasizes the need for nurses and care providers to engage patients in their care to improve outcomes.

Patient participation in health care 1
PATIENT PARTICIPATION IN HEALTH CARE
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Patient participation in health care 2
Introduction
Leadership in healthcare revolves around a set of skills and knowledge application by
nurses and health practitioners. Registered nurses exercise their skills in various clinical cases
and in an attempt to manage clinical conditions of patients. As echoed by Castro et al. (2016),
patients often seek medical attention from nurses and physicians and the health care service is
delivered in form of treatment and health education. One of the skills that nurses exercise is to
engage patients in their care. In order to understand a condition and manage it in the most
effective manner, the patient’s participation is of essence as they have knowledge of the disease
symptoms and the condition’s experience.
In order for health care provision to be effective and satisfactory, it must be patient
centered. In the world today, a patient centered care provision is taking shape and being
practiced often as opposed to the provider centric care provision which limits the patient’s
participation. As echoed by Stewardson et al. (2016), the traditional provider centric care
operates by the fact that the patient should only follow strictly what the provider advices so as to
regain good health and that the nurse or care provider is more knowledgeable and therefore
disregards the patient’s contribution to their health promotion. The aim of this discussion is to
explain why encouraging patient participation in their care is important as part of a registered
nurse’s skills to promote health.
Impact of patient participation on behavioral changes
Engaging patients in their care has a huge impact in ensuring quality and safe patient
outcomes. It helps reduce risks associated with a condition. It also encourages informed decision
making in health seeking and enables the patient to better understand their condition and self-

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manage them. According to Tobiano et al. (2015), engaging patients assists in understanding
their belief systems and culture and incorporate a treatment plan that they are comfortable with
hence assisting in the healing process. A health care setting is bound to have people from
different walks of life and cultural backgrounds. It is therefore important for the nurse to
understand the patient before implementing a care plan. Engaging the patient in care assists the
nurse to detect certain behavior patterns that put the patient at risk of the condition worsening
(Angel & Frederiksen, 2015). There are a number of conditions that are worsened by risky
behaviors such as unhealthy diet and lifestyles. Examples of diseases highly linked to unhealthy
lifestyles are diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Diabetes for example is a condition linked to
high blood sugar levels. In case of a patient suffering from this condition, it is important for the
care provider to seek information from the patient concerning their diet and lifestyles as a whole.
This information can only be obtained from engaging the patient in assessing their family and
social history.
Vaismoradi, Jordan & Kangasniemi (2015) state that a good physician-patient
relationship is of essence to enhance participation of the patient in their care. A good rapport
should therefore be always maintained so as to obtain maximal feedback from the patient. In the
case of a diabetic patient for example, the patient might give information on their daily diet on
engagement and this information would be quite advantageous in an attempt to prevent
worsening of the symptoms. For example, the care provider might detect high intake of sugary
foodstuff in the patient’s diet. The patient will then be advised on healthy eating and this will be
implemented in the patient’s care provision. The patient will also prevent future recurrence and
worsening of the condition by engaging in a healthy lifestyle.

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Engaging the patient assists in ensuring informed decision making in their health care
(Phillips, Street & Haesler, 2016). A patient with diabetes will for example seek insulin packages
so as to manage the condition and will always remember to take medications since he will have
the knowledge on the importance of taking such steps. An obese patient on the other hand after
engagement in their care will attempt to seek physical exercises and also change their diet to
more healthy nutrition. The patient will also reduce high calorie foodstuff intake in an attempt to
manage the condition. Lack of engagement of such patients may not have positive outcomes as
the patient will not be able to know on what to change on their lifestyle leading to the worsening
of the condition. Patients who are engaged in decision making process of their care have
therefore better health outcomes than those who are not.
Patient engagement in medication
Engagement of patients in their care helps reduce stigmatization of some conditions. This
is because health education comes along with the patient’s participation in their care. For
example a patient suffering from HIV/AIDS understands that if they follow their antiretroviral
medication properly, there is an increased rate of their survival. According to Utengen et al.
(2017), the decision to follow closely follow this medication is solely dependent on the patient
and therefore better understanding of the importance encourages them to faithfully adhere to
them. Patient’s involvement allows them to ask questions that they may need answered
concerning their health. This is of importance as the answers to these questions may directly
impact their health and lead to better outcomes. For example, a patient might need to seek
clarification in their medication dosage as they might not understand the prescription.
Participation by asking questions on how to go about this can therefore lead to better adherence
of the condition to the medication. Strict adherence to the dosages by the patient is of importance

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and leads to better health outcomes. Participation of the patient in care therefore assists
individuals to make informed decisions on their treatment (Winkfield et al, 2018). For example,
if a patient skips medication, it may lead to dire consequences as relates to the condition. For
example bacterial infections become resistant to antibiotics if their dosages are not followed
strictly. Seeking further information on the prescription and following them may therefore bring
positive outcomes.
Patient indulgence in error detection and prevention
Patients’ involvement in health care can also help detect errors in the treatment and
caring process (Pongthavornkamol et al, 2018). Feedback given by patients concerning the care
they receive in a health facility is of importance as it helps detect shortcomings and work on
improving the care provision. In the past traditional model, patients did not have a say in their
treatment as the care provision was provider centric. The physician would give instructions
which the patients would follow so as to achieve health without their participation in the care
process. Hospitals and care centers are encouraged to conduct feedback surveys to the patient
who are the center of the care provision. These survey help capture the patients’ feedback on
how their care was provided and helps improve it. Since care provision is patient centered in the
world today, a patient’s say is put into consideration to help identify loop holes in the care
provision.
The assumption that care was provided in the best way possible should not overshadow
the care giving process (Falk, Schandl & Frank, 2019). When patients are engaged, they offer
insights on how the care was done and whether the care provision was satisfactory. This is
important in the progress of the institution as the patient can either recommend other patient’s to
the facility or not depending on how the care was provided. The engagement helps detect

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dissatisfaction and allows the care providers aim at improving the care provision process.
Satisfactory feedback also helps the care provider identify the strengths of the care provision
process and maximize on them. Engaging the patient in the care process also helps detect failure
in the treatment plan and adverse effects of a particular medication. The patient may for example
complain of detected adverse effects with a particular medication. This helps the care provider
consider alternatives that help reduce these effects and enhance the healing process. This cannot
be detected if the patient is not involved in the care process. Failure of treatment with medication
can also be detected with patient’s engagement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important for nurses and care givers to engage their patients in the
care provision process. Communication skills are an important part of a care giver and engaging
patients helps improve condition outcomes as the patient becomes well informed on how to
manage their condition. Patient centered care provision is an important aspect in the health sector
today. There are many determinants of health. These include social, biological and
environmental factors that directly influence one’s health. Involving patients in care helps them
understand these determinants better and make informed decisions as far as their health is
concerned (Gould et al, 2017). It helps influence change in risky behaviors that might lead to
exacerbation of symptoms.
The involvement of patients helps increase satisfactory outcomes as their ideas and input
is put into consideration (Hardyman, Daunt & Kitchener, 2015). It is therefore the responsibility
of nurses and care providers to engage their patients so as bring the best possible outcome in the
care process. The healthcare setting is composed of various partakers including the government
that imposes regulatory laws, health practitioners, registered nurses and nutritionists and all these

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parties should work towards encouraging health promotion by encouraging patient participation
in the care process. Patients are encouraged to take an active role in their own safety by seeking
clarifications and engaging in programs that educate them on various health hazards.

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