Welcome Home

Spend any amount of time at Heartland Health Centers staff meetings this month and you will inevitably hear about the impending visit of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations.  During this visit, the Joint Commission will evaluate our health centers' standards and performance in order to determine whether they qualify to be considered Patient-Centered Medical Homes, a designation that recognizes quality performance in primary care. Amidst the quizzes on best practices and reminders to properly label and date our lunch tupperwares every day, I spent some time thinking about the term'medical home" (official definition aside*) and how the services I provide as a health educator impact patients' experience.

My time at Heartland has highlighted the importance of spending quality time with patients, delving into what it means for them to lead a healthy lifestyle. It is one thing for a provider to tell a patient, in the course of a 20-minute visit encompassing all of their health concerns, they should improve their diet and exercise more, and quite another for the patient to carry out that idealistic goal successfully, especially when their health literacy may already be limited. By spending 30 minutes with patients going over their current habits, setting concrete goals, and providing detailed education on relevant health topics, patients come away more knowledgeable and empowered to improve their habits, and providers can devote their valuable time with patients to other topics.

Nonetheless, even the most specific self-management goals can be difficult to put into practice. One of my favorite aspects of this service year has been working with providers to expand the offering of group wellness classes, which help bridge the gap between planning and actually doing. In addition to leading both Spanish and English cooking classes at two of my sites, I will be soon be involved in leading a walking group and a smoking cessation program for patients. Heartland has offered yoga and diabetes management classes in the past, and we are working on developing a general nutrition class to offer on an ongoing basis as well. These classes are so valuable for patients in that they not only learn about strategies for health promotion, but also get to put them into practice firsthand. We are able to walk alongside patients, figuratively and literally, as they gain the skills to improve their health.

A key component of any home is the people within it, and the community present in the classes provides patients with a network of positive social support in maintaining their healthy habits. Patients experiencing similar health issues have enjoyed getting to know one another through the classes, and by sharing advice and supporting one another have added another layer to the health promotion the classes already offer. When healthcare providers are involved in leading the classes, the groups also offer a way for patients and providers to build stronger relationships outside of the exam room.

I believe the availability of health education and wellness classes in our health centers takes the term'medical home" to a new level: the health center provides patients with not only direct medical care, but also a space and a community in which they can develop the knowledge, skills, and motivation to actively prevent further health problems. I hope I have helped to make Heartland feel like home for my patients this year and I hope to see the patient wellness program continue to grow into the future.

*More about PCMH: https://www.ncqa.org/Portals/0/PCMH%20brochure-web.pdf

This post was written by NHC Chicago member Claire Brady.

Claire serves as a Health Educator at Heartland Health Centers at Lincoln Square and Rogers Park.