The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) has issued the results of its 2011 survey regarding paid positions within health care systems and organizations as patient and family leaders. The IPFCC advocates for the participation of patient and family leaders on health care organizations’ quality improvement oversight and implementation bodies, both through patient-family advisory councils as well as on internal quality improvement teams. 140 valid responses were received and analyzed.
Some of the findings from the survey include:
- About half (48%) of those in a paid patient/family role had been previously employed in a health care setting
- Just a little over half (55%) have full-time positions
- One-fifth (22%) has been in their position for less than a year, 22% had been in the position for one to two years, and 33% for three to five years.
- The individuals in these paid patient/family positions are highly educated, with 3.5% having doctorate level degrees, 43% having masters degrees, and 47% having college degrees.
- The paid positions are most often in a patient- and family-centered care organizational department (29%), with 11% in administration and 6% in a quality department.
- More than half (54%) focus on pediatric patients and only 13% focus on adult services.
- The top challenges these individuals face are changing the culture within the entire organization (42%), funding./budget (36%), not enough time to implement initiatives (33%), moving to the next level of patient- and family-centered care (30%), and resistance to change from nurses and other staff (28%).
Ignatius Bau 