Community engagement is a critical component to patient-centered healthcare and is something that smaller organizations—the ones lacking big budgets—tend to excel at.
Community engagement is often overlooked when it comes to hospital marketing, getting passed over for more flashy advertising initiatives. But it's an important component of patient-centered healthcare and is something that organizations without big budgets tend to be really good at.
Representatives of Baylor Scott & White's canine therapy team |
The following unconventional initiatives caught my eye this summer for their ingenuity in bringing patients, staff, and the community together—and lifting spirits while they're at it.
Therapy Dogs Enhance the Patient Experience
Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center is taking a four-legged approach to enhancing the patient experience with its Pup Therapy Program.
The program, which is centered around volunteer therapy dogs and their owners, aims to enhance patient wellbeing during their hospital stay by visiting units such as the ER, pediatrics, and oncology.
"It's like an extension of clinical care," Alan Luker, marketing director for the Waco, TX, hospital, told a local paper. "It gets over into things like massage therapy, aromatherapy, music therapy. Pet therapy is a proven discipline that aids the natural healing process."
Training Physicians for Empathy
To be accepted into the program, the dogs must demonstrate that they are mild-mannered, comfortable around hospital equipment, and well behaved around different groups of people. The dogs and their owners must volunteer at least four hours each week, and the dogs are bathed and groomed before hospital visits in order to minimize germs brought into the facility.
Patients are asked if they would like a canine visit before a dog is brought into the room and, while not all say yes, those who do are grateful for the program.
"I think this is the best thing there is," said a Hillcrest patient who was recovering from open-heart surgery. "People can bond with dogs. It's just a connection, because most people love pets. It's something that you can take and love on them, and they'll love you back no matter what."
Hospital Donates Toys to Keep Kids Active
Unity Hospital in Fridley, MN, recently donated outdoor activity supplies to local, low-income school children to help them keep moving during their summer holidays.
The hospital got staff involved by asking them to donate toys and games over a two-week period. The staff engagement worked—they collectively donated 163 basketballs, hula hoops, and other outdoor toys.
Staff were invited to help distribute the toys, letting each child choose one item to take home.
"I can't remember the last time I've seen so many smiles," Jeni Asaba, marketing and communications specialist for Unity, told the local media. "We are so excited to be able to provide these items to local, low-income kids, and we hope every child is able to have a fun-filled, active summer."
The great thing about initiatives like this is you can bet more than the kids walked away with smiles that day—participating staff must have felt gratified, too.
Mural Promotes Wellness, Happiness
Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft, ME, has come up with a unique way to promote employee wellness—wall murals.
The 46-bed hospital's wellness committee decided to paint intricate murals in the building's stairwells in an effort to encourage employees to choose the stairs over the elevator. Staff member Barbara Johnson came up with the idea of creating a mural depicting Maine woodlands and wildlife, which she painted. The hospital got Harvard Pilgrim to cover the cost of paint and other expenses.
As an unexpected benefit, it turns out the mural is lifting spirits beyond staff.
"So one of the added benefits of this stairwell is not only to motivate the employees to take the stairs, but we found that children who are waiting at the hospital, a little bit bored, could come down," Brad Clark, Director of Marketing at Mayo Regional Hospital, told the local press.
"We've created a checklist of can you find the animals, so obviously there's birds and moose and bears and creatures lurking in trees, so it was kind of a fun bonus to having Barbara's artwork on the wall."
Staff are so motivated by the response to the mural that they hope to create a costal painting on the rest of the stairway.
Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.