Evidence-based practices are significantly important for the healthcare system. They help to ameliorate the existing processes and ways of taking care of an ill person. Public health improvement initiatives (PHII) play an essential role in the development of a strategy of the treatment both for the individual patient and the specific demographical group with particular characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to describe the most efficient ways to provide care and support for the patient using evidence-based practice and to analyze the media piece according to the given plan.
The Outcomes of PHII
In the given media piece, the story of Balewa, the owner of Safe Headspace, is described. She provides information about her project; its aim is to help older people with mental health problems overcome the difficulties and ameliorate their quality of life. Particularly, it might be useful in the case of Mr. Nowak, who has some troubles with balance and proposes the idea that this may be caused by the fall from the tree many years ago.
One of the most important outcomes that were described by Balewa was the positive effect of the physical exercises, especially of the aerobic type. What is more, medical treatment with the support of therapy in particular cases has proved to be efficient. The meditation was not appreciated among the majority of the patients; however, those who tried it noticed significant positive changes in their mood and well-being. Nevertheless, there were several outcomes that were not noticeably successful. Among them is therapy with the use of crosswords and puzzles and strength training. It is possible to assume that the environmental factor plays an essential role in the effectiveness of the treatment. For example, puzzles do not imply physical activity or communication, which are crucial in the process of therapy.
Strategy for Improving the Outcomes of PHII
It is vital to notice that the role of communication for patients with mental health problems should not be underestimated. It is necessary to make all the activities imply the element of interaction and conversation. For example, it is possible to replace the crosswords with chess. In this case, the patients would be provided with intellectual entertainment and the possibility to communicate with the partner at the same time.
Moreover, it is preferable to integrate the patient into the process of creating the activities. If he or she were involved, they would understand how the system of their treatment works. The patient would be provided with the evidence of the effectiveness as he or she would have the opportunity to choose it themselves (Rice, 2013). It is also advisable to inform the nurses and the healthcare workers about all the details of the therapy. They would be able to justify the person with a mental problem that would ameliorate the result of the treatment (Jeffs et al., 2013). The success of the therapy depends to a large extent on the motivation of the patient and their trust in the outcome, that is why the evidence and the detailed facts have to be taken into consideration.
Approach to Personalizing Patient Care
The process of the personalization of patient treatment requires an individual approach and specific methods. Nonetheless, the practices used for the improvement of the system, in general, are efficient in the case of personal therapy. For example, for Mr. Nowak, it is possible to propose the idea of creating a plan of the exercises and activities together with the healthcare workers. It would make the process clear and simple for the patient. It is necessary to take into consideration the cost of therapy and environmental facilities. Even in a complicated situation, there is always a way to use free and available sources – parks and playgrounds for physical exercises, governmental financial programs for expensive medications.
If the patient has to be in the hospital, it is crucial to provide the opportunity to communicate with the family. Moreover, it is necessary to create a special family place where the person can spend his or her spare time with the relatives in an atmosphere of comfort (Devine et al., 2015). The feedback from the nurses should also be considered to provide the required conditions for recovery (Krugman et al., 2015). The process of treatment should be clear not only for the patient but also for the relatives to avoid criticism about the quality of the therapy.
Justification of Value and Relevance of Used Evidence
Mr. Nowak suffers from troubles with the balance; it might be caused by the trauma from the fall from the tree, but it also might be the side-effect of the medicaments or the health impairment. The vague anamnesis is the reason why the collaboration between the patient and the healthcare workers is significant. The scientific argumentation is also crucial as it would convince the family of the patient and himself that the treatment is efficient. It is crucial not only in the case of Mr. Nowak but in other situations where evidence and argumentation are the essential parts of the motivation of the patient and his willingness to overcome the existing disease.
Framework for Evaluating the Outcomes
As a way to evaluate the results, it is possible to assume that success is the improvement of the quality of life of the patient. First of all, the medical rates should be taken into account, depending on the specificity of the disease. In the case of Mr. Nowak, the lack of a problem with the balance would be taken as a successful result. However, the progress in the therapy of mental diseases is not so easy to be detected.
It is possible to make a questionnaire for a patient that would function as a diary. According to the notes, the healthcare worker can track the effectiveness of the therapy. The universal approach of measuring the result might be presented as a grading system of improvements. For Mr. Nowak, the first step would be not to fall every day, then – twice a week, then – having a walk for more than an hour without problems with balance. For each patient, an individual list of the phases of progress has to be created. In this case, the limitations are especially noticeable for mental diseases or for a long-term treatment where the stages of advancement are hard to be identified. This method is suitable for any disease in general, the questions and the structure of the journal would be different, but the system might be implied in diverse spheres.
It is also advisable to get feedback both from the patient and his relatives and from the healthcare workers. However, it is crucial to ask for the evidence and argumentation of the ideas and thoughts. This methodology would make the process of evaluation of the treatment easier and more objective. The patient would provide information about negative and ineffective activities that are to be removed, and the nurses would exchange significant details about how to act in specific situations. The specialists would measure the feedback and rate the results according to the interviews. The amount of the final score would show the efficiency of the therapy.
References
Devine, D. A., Wenger, B., Krugman, M., Zwink, J. E., Shiskowsky, K., Hagman, J., & Reeves, C. (2015). Part 1: Evidence-based facility design using Transforming Care at the Bedside principles. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(2), 74–83.
Jeffs, L., Beswick, S., Lo, J., Campbell, H., Ferris, E., & Sidani, S. (2013). Defining what evidence is, linking it to patient outcomes, and making it relevant to practice: Insight from clinical nurses. Applied Nursing Research, 26(3), 105–109.
Krugman, M., Sanders, C., & Kinney, L. J. (2015). Part 2: Evaluation and outcomes of an evidence-based facility design project. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(2), 84–92.
Rice, M. J. (2013). Evidence-based practice: A model for clinical application. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 19(4), 217–221.