THE HUMAN TOUCH What happened to holding a hand?.

THEHUMANTOUCHWhat happened to holding a hand?

I Started Pondering One Day …

What makes a good EMT?

Basic Human Needs

Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH

– BS, Mathematics (Toronto)– AM, Mathematics (Harvard)– MD, Emergency Medicine (Stanford)– MPH, Int’l Health (Johns Hopkins)

Our Health…

We spend ½ of the world’s health budget, yet…we are the 30th healthiest nation.

Even if we eradicated heart disease, we would not be #1!

So then …

What makes us healthy?

Incidentally …

Know and share with your neighbors. Parts of the US where people trust and help one another are healthier than places with less cooperation.

Sharing communities with high participation and civic involvement are the healthiest.

You mean …

There’s more to health than ABC’s?

Our Nightmare

Basic Human Needs

Mr. Abraham Maslow

April 1908 – June 1970

“A Theory of Human Motivation”

Deficit Needs

or

“D Needs”

Being Needs

or

“B Needs”

New York Times 2005

10-Part Series(on how being a

patient sucks)

They concluded …

In a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 adults, 55% said they were dissatisfied with

the quality of health care; and 40 percent said the quality of care had gotten worse in the

last five years.

The survey was conducted by Harvard University,the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

and the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent nonprofit health care research group.

Why?

• The Loss of Identity

• The Psychology of Illness

• The Importance of Names

• The Discomfort of Noise

What is Customer Service?

• Service Quality

• Meeting & Exceeding Expectations

• Quality of the Interaction

• Problem Resolution

Tom Peters* wrote:

“We can no longer afford to merely satisfy the customer. To win today, you have to delight and astound your customers – with products

and services that far exceed their expectations.”

(*Tom Peters is known as the best-selling business author of all time. He is a Motivational Speaker and Business Management Specialist)

Customer Service Pyramid

Delights

Customer Care

Expectations of Us

What can I do?

Is it possible to meet those expectations in

an ambulance?

… Because touch at any age is vital on several levels …

First, it is just one of many non-verbal forms of communication. It can express comfort,

sympathy, concern, support, understanding, and give one a sense of being heard, often in ways that words

cannot. It can convey empathy, respect, connection, and when applied carefully

and appropriately with those who struggle provide a source of grounding, as well as an aid and outlet for emotional release.

Done with respect, care, and consideration, this can be one of the greatest means

to healing.~ Pamela Perez

“The Importance of Safe Touch in the Healing Process”