Chapter 08: The Patient Education Office: Raising Awareness of the Support Services Provided for Patients
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Description
Ms. Villejo talks about other activities of the Office: supporting development of the Place of Wellness, bringing in speakers, helping to plan the kitchen in the Mays Clinic.
She next explains that the Office must work constantly to raise awareness of the services and materials that are available for patients. She talks about a survey done of the Patient Education Program in 2000 and the Patient Orientation Class created as a result. She also talks about an overview of psychosocial services available and a 1990s assessment of educational materials. She notes that staff are unaware of many of the materials available for patients .
Identifier
VillejoL_01_20150507_C08
Publication Date
5-7-2015
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES, Oral History Interview, May 07, 2015
Topics Covered
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - Building the Institution; MD Anderson History; MD Anderson Snapshot; Institutional Processes; Patients; The Professional at Work; Education at MD Anderson; MD Anderson Culture
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Great. Yeah. Now let me ask you about some other initiatives that you worked on in your directorship years.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Well, because I’ve been here so long, I’ve been very lucky to be part of developing some of the other patient amenities. One of the things that—I told you we work very closely with Public Education. And so we work very closely with them in developing the Cancerwise, which is the groups that go to speak in the community. That was very early on that we worked very closely with them in developing that. And I also was on the group that developed the Place...of wellness. And when we opened, when we were building out the Mays Clinic, I was charged with developing the demonstration kitchen. So we went to places like Central Market and just getting an idea of what we wanted it to look like and so forth. And so then we got some funding from—gosh, I don’t want to mention the wrong funding group. I’ll have to go back and look. But we got funding to have a chef come in. So we had a chef from the community come in and talk about just different meal planning. And they’d cook something up real nice, and we’d have patients and families there, and then the dietitians. Of course we work very closely with Clinical Nutrition. And then they would talk about why that particular food was important or easy to eat or something that they could add calories to because they needed to keep their calories up. And sometimes their taste buds weren’t exactly right. And so we were able to start that program many years ago with the Learning Center. Behind the Learning Center is where the demonstration kitchen is, with the classroom.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Now do you find—my question is who directs patients to these different services. And behind that is the deeper question. Do you find that clinicians are very aware of what you’re doing and that they have the presence of mind to send patients to you? Or is that off their radar and you really rely on other support people to refer patients to your services?
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
I think it’s like everything else. It takes continuous awareness building and promotion. So we are continuously trying to get in front of staff and talk about resources and what’s available for patients and family members. One of the first pieces of literature that patients and family members get is called At Your Service. And it gives a broad-brush of the institution. If you come into the clinic this is what to expect. If you’re in the inpatient area this is what to expect. And here are some of the resources that are available for you. So they get that booklet. But of course they’re overwhelmed. And we don’t expect them to read it cover to cover. It’s got tabs in it so they can find information that they’re looking for. One of the things back in I guess about 2000, we did a big evaluation of our patient education program. One of the things that patients and family members were telling us was we’re so overwhelmed, we don’t know what questions to ask, we don’t know what resources are available. And so one of their suggestions was to have some kind of a class for patients and family members. So we have a new patient orientation class. And we really have tried to get the PASs to put it on their schedule. So that’s their responsibility is to get it on their schedule, because the committee that was working on it said, “If you don’t put it on the schedule then they’re not going to know it’s available or see it.” But one of the things that we’ve continued to struggle with and try to educate people on, what it is. And actually these are some of the main questions that patients and families are asking about. And they have a person. We could just give them a video. We do have a video too. But this is an opportunity for them to ask questions even if it’s off topic. Have somebody face to face in a very informal environment to just learn things. But I actually went through recently with one of my cousins. And I was really disappointed to see that one of the nurses says, “Oh, that class, you don’t have to go to that. They’ll just tell where the cafeteria is or something, I don’t know.” So we know that that’s happening a lot around the institution. And so we’re continually trying to educate people on what it is. It’s not that we thought it was a great idea. It’s that our patients and family members have asked for it. And recently the Patient and Family Advisory Committee wrote a document or gave their input into a document, What I Wish I Would Have Known. And half of those things we go over in the new patient orientation class. So it’s a continual education. No matter what resource is available. I worked with the Psychosocial Committee, which was started about 2007. And one of the first things that we were trying to do was again build awareness of all the resources we have available and that that is as important as their medical care. Meeting their psychosocial needs. It’s also on our patient satisfaction questionnaires. And that’s one of the things that really brought it up to a high level of attention. We weren’t doing very well on those scores. And so this huge initiative has developed around trying to address that. So we developed a program and went to all the clinical areas, inpatient and outpatient, to give them an overview of all the psychosocial resources that were available. And I was really surprised to see how many people didn’t know everything that was available.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
You mean people meaning people within the institution.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Staff, mm-hmm.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Yikes.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Nursing staff. Patient access coordinators. All these people. Because you think about it, we’re in a great position where we work across the institution with a lot of different departments and clinical areas all across the institution. So we have—and then we develop the educational materials that tell people what resources are available. So we know. But if you are a staff person that goes to one clinical area every day and that’s all you do is go to that, of course you get bulletins and e-mails and presentations at your staff meetings. But I mean we bombard people with a lot of information. So you don’t remember everything. Just like our patients and family members. They’re not going to remember everything that we try to bring to their attention. So it’s continuous. It will always be continuous. And the bigger this place gets, the more ways that we need to think of in trying to get the word out. One of the things that we did, I think it was in the ’90s sometime. We were assessing the information that we give patients. And we looked at what was called the new patient referral packet. And it was mailed out by the Welcome Center. And so we had a committee that was looking at that. And nobody really was responsible for it. And so when we asked them for a packet, well, what happened, everybody in the institution would mail them a flyer and say, “This is important, put this in the packet.” And there was nobody overseeing no, not that, we already have that. So working with that committee, we organized everything and got rid of a lot. I mean then of course they were Xeroxing it upside down and backwards. So it looked terrible from MD Anderson Cancer Center. So we organized that. I have seen that process happen like five times in my lifetime here, where just somebody comes up and says, “Look what we’re giving to patients.” I mean people will go through and pick up everything that they’re given. And then they have this huge—so we are great at giving information but as far as when’s the best time to give it, sometimes there’s if you don’t give it to them then, how do you know that the next person where they need it is going to give them that information. And then we have so many programs in the institution, and studies. Be part of this study and be part of this program. And we have this resource for you. So I’ve seen us run at that many times. And I think we’re getting better each time.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I also can imagine that I mean treatment and what is available in the institution is not static. So you’re constantly having to revise and change and maybe even rethink those moments when you give a patient—when in the care process do you give the information—that the best time might change from year to year.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
That’s true. And then one of my soapboxes is sometimes people want everything online. Well, great, let’s have it available all nicely packaged online, but that’s not going to help people that don’t go online that much. And then somebody says, “Well, my eighty-year-old grandfather, he’s always texting me.” Well, great for your eighty-year-old grandfather, but he’s a rarity. And different people have different access to electronics. I mean that’s one of the huge changes that I’ve seen. From nothing on the Internet or computers even to this tremendous—it is a tremendous resource. But we have to make sure that we are reaching everybody, not just those that carry their smartphones and iPads around.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Right. And also I can imagine even the most savvy person with electronics may just find themselves in a—to go back to those psychosocial issues—in a certain moment in their diagnosis or treatment they may just want to sit down with another human body and look at a piece of paper and be led through that.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean after working all day I love to read. But my eyes have read out by the end of the day. So I use books on tape a lot. I mean I love my books on tape. And if there’s a video I’d rather watch somebody tell me. And the whole storytelling thing instead of like slog through reading the printed word when you’re stressed or tired or anything like that. So we have to make the information available in multiple ways.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, we’re about at five of 3:00. And this sounds like a good place to stop for today.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
Sure.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
All right. So I wanted to thankyou for your time today, Ms. Villejo.
Louise Villejo, MPH, MCHES:
OK, thank you. I didn’t know if I was going to have anything to say. (laughter)
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, you surprised yourself. (laughter) All right. Well, I am turning off the recorder at 2:55. END OF AUDIO FILE
Recommended Citation
Villejo, Louise and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 08: The Patient Education Office: Raising Awareness of the Support Services Provided for Patients" (2015). Interview Chapters. 1523.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1523
Conditions Governing Access
Open
