Aaron, B Bradley
| Aaron, B Bradley |
Aaron B. Bradley
Joan Gluch
Division of Community Oral Health, Preventive & Restorative Sciences, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Description
Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center is a nearly 300-bed Joint Commission accredited tertiary care teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. Located in West Philadelphia’s University City district, CVCVAMC serves over 57,000 US veterans through more than 450,000 visits per year. Its mission statement is to “Honor America’s Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well being.”
Project Overview
Incorporating Veterans’ life stories into their medical records helps their healthcare providers - and VA leadership - to acknowledge and appreciate each patient as an individual. The My Life, My Story Project improves each patient’s care. In addition to fostering deeper connections between Veterans and their care team, MLMS can directly contribute to a Veteran's treatment plan. Interviews provide Veterans with the opportunity to safely voice concerns and directly address issues they have faced during the course of their care, allowing all those involved to hear their perspective.
Outcome
In a recent Madison, WI VAMC survey, the program drew an "overwhelmingly positive" response from VA providers who felt that reading these stories was a good use of clinical time and that it would help improve clinical care. Some clinicians use the stories to establish rapport with their patients, others use them to help develop treatment plans. A total of 39 interviews with over 1,100 minutes recorded.