Why The TakeCHARGE Campaign Is So Important
I’m a nurse, turned patient safety advocate. And I want to let you in on one of the best-kept secrets many of us in this field have learned as we help patients navigate our complex healthcare system. But before I do that, I want to introduce you to a lady who has pioneered this secret by packaging it into an easy, user-friendly way that all of us as eventual patients or their advocates can begin using right now. Whether you are a college student living thousands of miles away from your parents, or the daughter or son of an aging parent, or somewhere in between: Listen up! This is for you.
Ilene Corina is a feisty ball of energy with a Long Island accent.… She has been moving the bar in patient safety and advocacy since the late 1990s when she began looking for a surgeon for her young son.
Ilene Corina is a feisty ball of energy with a Long Island accent. To meet her is to instantly feel like you want to get to know her. She runs a non profit organization in New York called The Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education and Advocacy. She has been moving the bar in patient safety and advocacy since the late 1990s when she began looking for a surgeon for her young son.
Ilene had tragically lost a child in 1990 from excessive bleeding after a tonsillectomy. Her repeated reports of concern about her son’s condition were dismissed for a week before he died.
Two life-changing healthcare experiences had given Ilene the keen awareness and knowledge that researching and choosing a surgeon carefully was a necessary and basic first step. You see, Ilene had tragically lost a child in 1990 from excessive bleeding after a tonsillectomy. Her repeated reports of concern about her son’s condition were dismissed for a week before he died. After the birth of her youngest son, she also spent lots of time as a parent in a hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Ilene began meeting with other patients who had similar experiences, and started turning those stories into action. She attended conferences, accepted the opporunity to serve on patient safety boards, lobbied for patient safety laws and became a bedside patient safety advocate.
Ilene began meeting with other patients who had similar experiences, and started turning those stories into action.
In the end, she realized her passion and the real need was in educating and empowering people before they became a patient, and to give them tools to help them be assertive and involved in their own health care.
This is where I get to tell you about this patient safety secret: Prepare well in advance of a medical appointment or hospital stay and take charge of your medical care. Don’t be a bystander. The stakes are simply too high.
Each month from April through August, the campaign will focus on one of the five steps with a wide array of daily and weekly postings on social media channels to engage individuals, organizations and businesses to complete each step and join the campaign.
The Pulse Center’s volunteers have taken this further and turned this important preparation into 5 easy steps that any patient, caregiver or family can do well ahead of a healthcare encounter. The TakeCHARGE Campaign was launched in 2019 and guides individuals or groups (Seniors, Employees, Teachers, College or High School Students, anyone!) through these easy but powerful steps:
1. Understand & Complete Your Advance Directives
2. Keep a Record of Your Medical History & Current Medications
3. Prepare for Doctor Visits & Make a List of Questions
4. Prevent Infections: Ask Caregivers to Wash Their Hands
5. Use an Advocate/Be an Advocate for Others
The TakeCharge Campaign is a public awareness campaign that has significant potential to improve patient outcomes by encouraging people to become active participants in their healthcare by following these 5 Steps. Now, in it's second year, The TakeCharge kicked off with Patient Safety Awareness in March and concludes on International Patient Safety Day in September. Each month from April through August, the campaign will focus on one of the five steps with a wide array of daily and weekly postings on social media channels to engage individuals, organizations and businesses to complete each step and join the campaign.
TakeCHARGE is about avoiding an error or injury and being sure that all people are comfortable and in “charge” were they to become a patient suddenly or not.
«For many years people have said that medical errors or unplanned outcomes happen to other people,» says Ilene. «TakeCHARGE is about avoiding an error or injury and being sure that all people are comfortable and in “charge” were they to become a patient suddenly or not. Helping them plan ahead will help them choose you!»
To share the Campaign’s posts, you can go directly to the TakeCHARGE website or Facebook Page where you’ll soon find memes, short videos and other ways to raise awareness.
If you’d like to be more involved in the TakeCHARGE program, become a sponsor, have someone speak to your group, or implement the 5 easy steps in your workplace, community or other setting, please reach out to the program here.
Prepare well in advance of a medical appointment or hospital stay and take charge of your medical care. Don’t be a bystander. The stakes are simply too high.
Thank you to Ilene Corina and Pulse Center NY for helping all of us prepare ahead for patient safety sake. To quote Ilene: “We want people to think about this program as a way of life before they become a patient because it should be a part of our health care preparation routine.” She gives the example of asking a doctor or nurse to wash their hands: “If only one of us does it, it feels like a barrier. If all of of us do it, it’s an expectation.”
I couldn’t agree more.
