GIA 2007 Excellence Winner

Special Projects, Programs or Campaigns - Public Relations

University of Connecticut Office of Communications

Patient School

At the University of Connecticut Health Center' Patient School, the public receives practical information to become better, more successful patients and patient advocates for their children or aging parents. While there are numerous articles and writings on the topic, the patient school is considered to be the first of its kind in the nation.

Introduced in the spring of 2006, the first school achieved full enrollment and provided innovative subject matter that moved well beyond traditional community outreach programs, such as health and wellness lectures or mini medical schools. Feedback from attendees has been highly positive, and the program has generated regional and national news coverage. Health organizations throughout North America have expressed interest and inquired about creating similar programs in their communities.

Goals

• Provide a better way for patients to seek and find medical information.

Results

• Created a patient school with a series of classroom-style programs presented by medical school faculty.
• Topics identified:
1. "A Roadmap to Reliable Health Information"
2. "When the Patient is Your Parent or Child"
3. "Understanding the Results of Diagnostic or Screening Tests"
4. "Answers to Questions You Weren't Asked, But Should Have Been"
5. "Managing Stress to Get the Most from Your Healthcare"
6. "Legal and Ethical Issues at the End of Life–The Importance of Advance Care Planning"
• Classes were held over five consecutive Wednesdays and each evening was formatted into two segments with interactive components including Q&A.
• One hundred percent of respondents described the value of the patient school as "Excellent" or "Good" and would recommend the program to others.
• Participating faculty agreed to "sign on" for future programs.

Read the full narrative (Word document)

Contact: James Walter, walter@nso.uchc.edu

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