New PPECA Program Pairs Hospitals, Libraries to Inform Consumers about Patient Safety
Partnering for Patient Empowerment Through Community Awareness (PPECA), a hospital-library collaborative program, is being launched Feb. 15 at the Galter Health Sciences Library of Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. The new program is based on a model that pairs hospitals and libraries to increase awareness among consumers and librarians about patient safety and the roles of consumers as partners in their own care and that of their loved ones.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) February 14, 2005 -- Patient safety is a major public health issue. The Institute of Medicines landmark 1999 report, To Err Is Human, estimates medical error to be between the fourth and the eighth largest cause of preventable death in the United States.
To address this public health issue, Partnering for Patient Empowerment Through Community Awareness (PPECA), a hospital-library collaborative program, is being launched Feb. 15 at the Galter Health Sciences Library of Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. The new program is based on a model that pairs hospitals and libraries to increase awareness among consumers and librarians about patient safety and the roles of consumers as partners in their own care and that of their loved ones.
Patients and their families are part of the healthcare system," says Roxanne J. Goeltz, President, Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, yet there are few organized efforts to increase the publics awareness and knowledge about their role in improving patient safety."
To test the PPECA model, five northern Illinois hospitals are collaborating with local libraries to offer a 90-minute adult education presentation featuring experts and consumers:
· Wednesday, Feb. 16, (two sessions) 10:30 a.m. to noon and 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. —Dixon Public Library, 221 S. Hennepin Ave., Dixon, Ill. Hospital partner: Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital.
· Thursday, March 3, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.—Chicago Public Library, Bessie Coleman Branch, 731 E. 63rd St., Chicago. Hospital partner: Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.
· Monday, April 18—Schaumburg Township District Library, 130 S. Roselle Rd., Schaumburg, Ill. Hospital partner: Alexian Brothers Medical Center.
· Wednesday, May 11—Harvey Public Library System, 15441 Turlington Ave., Harvey, Ill. Hospital partner: Ingalls Health System.
· Thursday, May 12—Skokie Public Library, 5215 Oakton St., Skokie, Ill. Hospital partner: Rush North Shore Medical Center.
PPECA is the first model for building patient safety awareness through community partnerships involving a public library and a healthcare institution. Public libraries have a history of providing educational programs on topics of interest to their communities," says Linda Walton, associate director, Galter Health Sciences Library and PPECA principal investigator. Many people feel more comfortable in a public library environment than in a hospital setting for learning."
The 90-minute educational sessions held at the public libraries will include four short presentations designed to raise consumer awareness of:
· The consumers role in working with healthcare providers to manage risk of avoidable patient injury;
· Patient-centered and systems-based approaches to patient safety;
· Safe medication use; and
· Effective medical information gathering.
PPECA will also offer Medline Plus training as part of a train-the-trainers workshop for librarians, a Web site, display and educational brochure. Visit PPECA online at www.galter.northwestern.edu/ppeca.
PPECA was developed in collaboration with Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, the Health Learning Center of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Zipperer Project Management and the Chicago Multi-type Library System. The program has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, under Contract. No. NO1-LM-1-3513.
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