Case Study:
Review the Case Study:The Crowded Clinic
And Response to the following Discussion Questions:
1. As mentioned above, one aspect of patient-centered care is fostering a culturally sensitive and diverse clinic environment that makes patients feel more welcome. What are some ways in which this may be accomplished?
2. Read this article about Open Access. If you currently work in an office practice, how would your patients' experience change if what the author calls "advanced access" were implemented? How might advanced access change your experience as a patient?
3. In order to provide good care for a culturally diverse patient population, it is important to gain some understanding of their ways of being (their belief systems, their traditions, their feelings towards western medicine, etc.). Can you think of a particular patient population in your area that may have unique beliefs about health and illness that would be important to understand?
4. How well do you know your patients? Can you think of a patient population (a culture, ethnicity, religious group, sexual orientation) with which you do not have much familiarity? How might this lack of knowledge impact your care?
5. What are some ways in which you could be better educated in regards to the beliefs and traditions of the patient population in your area? How might that intervention benefit the patients?