by Esha Ray Chaudhuri
As a patient dedicated to Patients for Patient Safety Canada’s collective vision of making every patient safe, I would like to make three points about types of harm:
PATIENTS ARE NOT ALL THE SAME
Patients in Canada – and all over the world – are uniquely diverse and so is their experience of harm. Some communities are more likely to experience healthcare harm than others when diagnosis of their health problems can miss the different types of influences that cause their illness. All patients are uniquely diverse and so is their experience of harm. This needs to be recognized so that truly EVERY patient can be safe.
SEE THE WHOLE PERSON
Patients need to be seen as ‘whole persons’ who may have different things which affect their health: proper nutrition, having a job, having somewhere to live, being able to get clean water, having a means of transportation. Healthcare harm can come from all these parts of a person’s life. Healthcare professionals need to understand the whole patient and the different factors that influence their health to ensure safe care.
UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT FACTORS
Today there are many world-wide problems like the recent COVID pandemic, and natural disasters like floods, fires and strong hurricanes that can cause our health problems. Safe healthcare depends on understanding the many possible reasons that can influence the lives of patients and cause the illness for which they seek care.
As a minority patient harmed for life, I joined PFPSC to share the need for understanding and treating the different needs of different patients/ persons – which is called equity – to be seen as an important part of Patient Safety.
Contact us at hello@patients4safety.ca to explore ways we can ensure that EVERY patient experiences a safe journey through healthcare.
