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CREATING ADAPTABLE COMMUNITIES: A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS FROM
THE 2ND ANNUAL ATLANTIC CENTER FOR POPULATION HEALTH SCIENCES
EMPOWERING ADAPTABLE COMMUNITIES SUMMIT
Rachel S. Permuth, PhD, MSPH, National Research Director,
SodexoJennifer M. Petrelli, SM, MPH, Nutritional Epidemiologist,
Sodexo
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Creating adaptable communities is no easy feat, especially in
the face of
change and adversity. Sodexo was honored to be a featured
presenter at
the 2nd Annual Atlantic Center for Population Health Sciences
Empowering Adaptable Communities Summit. The Summit was held on
October 21 and 22, 2015, in Morristown, New Jersey, at the College
of Saint Elizabeth. The
event was devoted to providing new insights, information,
inspiration, and
personal connections in our united efforts to empower
communities to be
more adaptable.
Population Health is transforming how we view community health
and creating a fundamentally
different culture and perspective focused on wellness. The
population health approach maintains that
achieving a healthy community requires more than just treating
sickness on an individual level.
Over the course of this symposium, we heard from community
health thought leaders and leading
practice organizations, whose presentations focused on
developing innovative solutions to pressing
population health problems. From the information that was
shared, we have identified three important
themes that will become more and more important as we seek to
enable healthy populations:
1. Patient Fear as a Central Part of the Patient Experience
2. New Perspectives on Caregiving and Taking Care of the
Caregivers
3. The Key Role of Community Connections and Healthy
Neighborhoods
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PatientFearasaCentralPartofthePatientExperience
In healthcare, medical advances alone cannot guarantee better
patient outcomes. Helping patients
heal or overcome illness involves more than just treatment
through medical procedures and products;
patients mental well-being and peace-of-mind can be just as
important.
In fact, understanding and alleviating fear is central to
improving the patient experience.
This assertion is based on the fact that as humans, we have core
needs, and fear occurs when one of
these needs is not being met.
Fear in the hospital setting is amplified and much more complex.
Top patient fears include infection and
germs, incompetence, and death. Fear among patients typically
revolves around two aspects: a loss of
control and depersonalization.
However, every patient experiences fear differently (see Figure
1). It is therefore vital for healthcare
organizations to look toward enhancing patient experience in the
hospital setting through initiatives
targeted at these different manifestations of fear. Staff
awareness, patient involvement, and social
support are essential for overcoming patient fear and are key
areas for improvement.
Loners Worriers
Self-Centrics Attention- Seekers
FEAR OF THE INSTITUTION
DEFLECT FEAR
INN
ER F
OC
US R
EAC
H O
UT
TACKLE FEAR
Vitality
Recognition
Conviviality
Security
Listen to me Bond with me Singularize my stay
Respect my loneliness
Follow my plan Regain my balance
Figure 1. Sodexos PersonixTM Visualization of Different
Manifestations of Patient Fear
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NewPerspectivesonCaregivingandTakingCareoftheCaregivers
Focusing on patients, especially the fear they may cope with as
part of their experience, may not be
enough to bring about a healthy population. Increasingly,
attention is being paid to the enormous
contribution that caregivers make within our healthcare system,
and the loneliness and isolation they face
in light of such an overwhelming task.
Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new
perspectives on caregiving.
We could all be caregivers at the drop of a hat, yet we have
never had any training to prepare us for
this role. Our lives can become very complex as a result. It is
estimated that there are 44 million unpaid
caregivers in the U.S., typically consisting of a patchwork of
family, extended family, and friends. These
individuals often have little financial or social relief and may
experience poor health as a result of their
caregiving.
Several factors have contributed to the increased pressures
facing caregivers:
Women are an increasingly large proportion of the out-of-home
working population.
Living arrangements are changing multi-generational households
are becoming rare, while single-person households are growing.
Family members may be able to meet their charges daily needs,
but they may struggle with seeking support from local organizations
for practicalities such as mobility.
Given these challenges, how can we better support caregivers?
Can technology help? What services
are out there to give relief to caregivers? How do we make sure
caregivers know the resources that are
available to help them? It is essential that tomorrows
healthcare leaders consider these questions and
work toward alleviating some of the stresses of caregiving.
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TheKeyRoleofCommunityConnectionsandHealthyNeighborhoods
Maintaining the health of an entire population requires not just
that individual patients are retroactively
treated and cured, but also that illness is proactively
prevented on a larger scale. This means moving
beyond the hospital and patients homes, and into the larger
community. In fact, research has shown that
the physical and social environments are very strong
determinants of health.
With this in mind, community connections and the formation of
healthy neighborhoods are the next population health levers.
The focus on the role of the community is especially important,
given the greater risk and responsibility
being pushed onto the health system. Expenditures on health care
(as a percent of GDP) remain high
while expenditures on social services are low. Regardless of the
approach utilized, population health
initiatives must be data-driven and evidence-based. The
evolution of community-oriented population
health via the integration of community and clinical initiatives
is the key to improved outcomes and ROI.
An example initiative that utilizes community connections to
drive population health, Sodexos
Communities for Health pilot, is described in Figure 2.
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Conclusion
The Empowering Adaptable Communities Summit focused on several
key themes pertaining to improving
the well-being of communities. Achieving this goal requires a
population health approach that emphasizes
prevention over treatment. It requires understanding the patient
experience and working toward alleviating
patient fears. It requires supporting the caregivers who treat
and assist sick or elderly individuals. And it
requires recognizing the growing role of community connections
and healthy neighborhoods as a means to
enhance population health. Each of these three topics deserves
further discussion and consideration from
community health leaders and other health professionals.
Figure 2. The Sodexo/YMCA of Central Florida Communities for
Health Pilot
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AdditionalResources
To learn more about the Empowering Adaptable Communities
Summit,
the Atlantic Center for Population Health Sciences, or the three
themes
identified, the following resources may be of interest.
EmpoweringAdaptableCommunitiesSummiteventwebsite:http://www.cvent.com/events/empowering-
adaptable-communities-2015-summit/event-summary-6c1d296e96694b37b46255c68b5600ef.aspx
TheAtlanticCenterforPopulationHealthScienceswebsite:
http://www.atlantichealth.org/atlantic/
health+education/population+health/atlantic+center+for+population+health+sciences/
SodexoWhitePapers:
Understanding and Managing Patient Fear in the Hospital Setting
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/0351c0e8#/0351c0e8/1
Social Interaction, Loneliness and Quality of Life in Healthcare
and Older Adults Care
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/30a55063#/30a55063/1
Communities for Health Launch Event: Summary of Proceedings
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/dc43c72e#/dc43c72e/1
AdditionalwhitepaperscanbefoundonSodexosThoughtLeadershipLibrary:
bit.ly/sodexothoughtleadership
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As part of Sodexos commitment to creating a better tomorrow
through sustainable, green initiatives, this document has been
printed on paper containing 20% post-consumer recycled content.
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