Module 4
Patient Engagement in Pressure Injury Prevention
Patient engagement in pressure injury prevention
The role of the patients in optimising the management and prevention of pressure injury is an area that has not been fully explored. Two Australian studies1-2 reported that patients preferred taking a proactive role in pressure injury prevention and expressed the need for ongoing pressure injury education and dialogue with nurses on this topic. In general, improved health literacy empowers patients to contribute to their health plan and gives autonomy over their health.3 Patients' improved health literacy has been shown to improve self-management, encourage adherence to treatment, promote wound healing, and prevent illness in certain target groups.4-5 Additionally, establishing effective partnerships between practitioners and health care consumers is accepted as an effective mean of improving patient-centred care. A recent systematic review6 reported that complex intervention programmes that included an element of education were more effective in decreasing occurrence of hospital acquired pressure injury than single interventions. The role of education tools is an important consideration in efforts to improve health literacy. Educating and involving patients in prevention and management of PIs has been identified as being important in clinical settings in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries.
Gaspar S, Peralta M, Marques A, Budri A, Gaspar de Matos M. Effectiveness on hospital-acquired pressure ulcers prevention: a systematic review. Int Wound J. 2019; 16(5): 1087-
Patient Stories online resource was developed as part of NHS England/Improvement’s Stop the Pressure work. In short video interviews, patients talk about the impact that pressure ulceration has had on their life and discuss the simple steps we can all take to prevent pressure injury. They stress the importance of health education and discuss their involvement in the campaign to eliminate pressure injury.
Patients Stories. NHS Stop the Pressure. Helping to prevent pressure ulcers:
Monash Partners research on the availability and content of patient education materials in publicly available hospital websites in Victoria
There is a gap in the literature surrounding the potential benefits of improving patient health literacy on pressure injury prevention, and even fewer strategies for information dissemination. Furthermore, no studies to date have examined the availability and accuracy of educational materials for improving patient awareness and involvement in prevention and management of pressure injury. Given the need for improved health literacy in pressure injury prevention and management, we assessed the availability and accuracy of patient education materials on pressure injury in publicly available hospital websites in Victoria, Australia.7 Two independent coders accessed and evaluated 212 websites for content on pressure injury prevention and management, analysing availability and accuracy of pressure injury definitions, risk factors, preventive strategies, referral, visual tools, consumer endorsement, information for family/carers, and translation on community languages.7
Our findings indicate that a greater proportion of hospitals did not have any patient education materials on pressure injury prevention publicly available, with private hospitals (compared with public) and metropolitan hospitals (compared to rural) more likely to have materials available on their sites. The available materials contained accurate messages on pressure injury defining characteristics and risk factors for pressure injury, although there was considerable variability on the availability of other information.7 Our findings suggest a significant deficit in the availability of educational materials for acute care patients and their families. There is a need for evidence-based, consumer-endorsed, uniform materials on all hospital websites to prevent pressure injury in acute care.7
Team, V, Bouguettaya, A, Richards, C, et al. Patient education materials on pressure injury prevention in hospitals and health services in Victoria, Australia: Availability and content analysis. Int Wound J. 2020; 17: 370– 379.
References
1Latimer S, Chaboyer W, Gillespie B. Patient participation in pressure injury prevention: giving patient's a voice. Scand J Caring Sci. 2014; 28(4): 648- 656.
2McInnes E, Chaboyer W, Murray E, Allen T, Jones P. The role of patients in pressure injury prevention: a survey of acute care patients. BMC Nurs. 2014; 13(1):41.
3Batterham RW, Hawkins M, Collins P, Buchbinder R, Osborne RH. Health literacy: applying current concepts to improve health services and reduce health inequalities. Public Health. 2016; 132: 3- 12.
4Mackey LM, Doody C, Werner EL, Fullen B. Self-management skills in chronic disease management: what role does health literacy have? Med Decis Making. 2016; 36(6): 741- 759.
5Miller TA. Health literacy and adherence to medical treatment in chronic and acute illness: A meta-analysis. Patient Educ Couns. 2016; 99(7): 1079- 1086.
6Gaspar S, Peralta M, Marques A, Budri A, Gaspar de Matos M. Effectiveness on hospital-acquired pressure ulcers prevention: a systematic review. Int Wound J. 2019; 16(5): 1087- 1102.
7Team, V, Bouguettaya, A, Richards, C, et al. Patient education materials on pressure injury prevention in hospitals and health services in Victoria, Australia: Availability and content analysis. Int Wound J. 2020; 17: 370– 379.