Beyond Patients (part 3)

Since the last post some exciting things have happened. Conversations have started with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation around an interesting idea being called Flipping The Clinic. What I think is exciting about this is that, while this is still a very new idea, much of what I hear is based around changing the culture around the patient-provider experience.

Also, I think that this is starting to put some framework around the work that the youth team and I are doing at Youth Empowered Solutions (YES!). The idea of "Flipping" comes from Salman Khan and the idea of Flipping the Classroom:

The two cornerstone strategies are that 1) the lectures are completed at home and the "homework" is done in the classroom, with the teacher and the other students, not just enhancing the role of the teacher to teach, but enhancing the relationships that are developed between the student and classroom and 2) through the work being done in the classroom the system of educating becomes more individualized, so that students learn a their own relative pace. 

When I think about how this translates into the patient-provider relationship, I think about greater productivity and outcomes, I think the integration into a stakeholder, an owner, and an investor in the care that they receive. As our national health care systems transitions in to v3.0 (see Part 1) it will be essential to leverage the capacity of consumers at a greater level to sustain a high level of patient-centered care. This makes me think of a fantastic workshop I saw in June at the School-Based Health Alliance 2013 National Convention, which was called Youth-Driven Spaces: Creating an Organizational Culture that Supports Youth-Adult Partnerships. It was led by two adults and two youth representing  the Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti, MI. 

The Corner Health Center has all of the dynamic components of a dynamic youth empowerment organization: advocating for community change, addressing and dismantling adultism, and maintaining an amazingly active Youth Leadership Councils. The Youth Council researches community health issues, develops multimedia, and (of particular note) advises the "Corner" on policies and services. They have taken the feedback loop and added another dimension to it. They lifting up the role of the patient, building it's capacity, and allowing them to contribute meaningfully to the success of the health center. 

As a result, youth are invested in where they get the care and the provider is better equipped to serve his and her patients. In the presentation the youth and adult team described the "Learning Culture" at the organization as as an iceberg where on the surface you see the formal policies, systems and practices. However, what ensures authenticity and delivery is the informal practices and symbolic actions and the beliefs, values, and attitudes that lie beneath. I can't help but think having an online chat function with the staff and doctors (meeting the youth where they are at) is what you see, when what we don't see is the board meetings, staff meetings, strategic planning sessions, and consulting that the organization engaged those youth in to develop it. 

I even had a chance to connect with Monique who is resident Health Educator and champion of all things Youth Empowerment at the Corner and I was able to pose just one, simple question: "why?"

"The bottom line is, we don’t put resources into increasing youth voice because it is the nice thing to do. We work to increase youth voice because it builds the capacity of our organization to better meet the needs of the population we serve—youth."

I would definitely encourage you to check out the Corner Health Center online, if you are in Michigan and a support of their school-based health centers, get involved, and if you are an adolescent healthy care organization, I'd recommend you explore the capacity you have to take your work to a new dimension.