What toddlers at Disney can teach about improving patient experience

by Doug Della Pietra How might the answer to "What most captures the attention of toddlers and infants at Disney World" guide caregivers in improving the patient experience? Kare Anderson, in her fascinating HBR blog post, described what she and a cultural anthropologist discovered as they observed toddlers and infants at Disney: "After a couple of hours of close observation, we realized that what most captured the young children's attention wasn't Disney-conjured magic. Instead it was their parents' cell phones, especially when the parents were using them." She continued, "When parents were using their phones, they were not paying complete attention to their children." Anderson's deduction: "Giving undivided attention is the first and most basic ingredient in any relationship." Now, let's turn to the patient experience. Although most hospital patients are adults, we can certainly experience a dependence on caregivers similar to that of toddlers and infants for their parents. If Anderson and the cultural anthropologist made observations in your hospital, what would they determine most captures the attention of your patients? Would it be the computer (a checklist, a whiteboard) that occupies caregiver attention during a patient assessment? Could it be the loud, obnoxious and fear-inducing machine beeping as it monitors the patient's blood pressure, pulse rate, ECG, etc.? Or, would the quality of the caregiver's mindful-presence, listening, active involvement, enga...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs