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learning

Jun 16 2013
Love0

Are We Safe?

By Advocate, Caregiver, Clinician, Consumer, ePatient, Family man, Leader

Sometimes our health journey seems fraught with peril. So much can go wrong. Unexpected danger lurks around every corner. Yet, team members (caregivers, loved ones, professionals) accompanying us on our health journey all seek a safe ride for us and themselves. Safety is complicated. It begs many questions.

  • What kind of safety – emotional, physical, or cultural? Personal, team or organizational safety? Absence of error, mishap or tragedy?
  • What about the dynamic tension between risk and rights? We could feel absolutely safe with a trusted Big Sister always watching and protecting. How much of our human rights would we give up for that absolute safety?
  • What role do we ePatient drivers play in our own safety? What role do our leaders organizations play in our safety?
  • How is safety demonstrated? Surely part of safety is perception.  Read More
Dec 10 2012
Love0

Hardwiring Continual Learning

By Caregiver, Consumer, ePatient

I’m learning to type. Amazing after all these years that I still hunt and peck. Cool though to know that I can still develop new brain pathways and muscle memory. Continual learning with a swiss cheese multiple sclerosis brain:)  I watch my grandsons learn, they just keep at it. Fearless repetition. Why is it that I’m reluctant to learn from others’ experience? When I first had kids, I was told to kiss my life as I knew it goodbye. I didn’t believe it, I didn’t learn from those ahead of me until a week after my oldest was born. Now with health care, seldom do we learn, or rather seldom do we have sustained learning. After decades in health care I feel like I’m seeing the same stuff recycle.  Is patient centered really new? Aren’t ACOs a retread? Quality Management is still only good management. Although there is a treasure of science of best practices, we know that clinicians struggle to keep up, break inertia and change practice based on evolving evidence.

Hardwiring continual learning is a magic lever for best health for individuals, organizations and the health care system. Personally, I only have so much energy and space for learning. Inertia is critical to getting on with life.  Success is inertia for what works, learning for what doesn’t. Continual learning requires mindfullness. How do we design continual learning into our lives, our relationships, our products, and systems?