Tools & Resources

Patient and Family Engagement

Patient and family engagement is the active involvement of patient/family decision-making and preferences in health care design and delivery. Patient engagement is recognized as a critical component in improving health care value and outcomes, particularly in rural areas.

Evidence, Methods, & Models

Engaging Rural Residents in Patient-Centered Health Care Research - This article, from the Patient Experience Journal, describes the process of engaging rural patients, caregivers and broader stakeholders to actively participate in an exploratory effort to understand rural perspectives around the patient-centered medical home model. (2017)

Patient Trust: A Guide for Essential Hospitals - Based on research are examining patients' trust in hospitals as an institution, America's Essential Hospitals has generated a guide on policies and practices essential hospital leaders can incorporate to increase patient trust in their institution. (2020)

Telehealth Models for Increasing Access to and Engagement with Care Outside of Healthcare Settings - In rural communities, telehealth is used as a tool to help patients access care outside of clinical settings and to better engage patients in the care that they receive. Using telehealth to reach patients in non-healthcare settings, outside of medical facilities, can be critical to overcoming persistent barriers to care, including lack of access to transportation and stigma associated with seeking help for a condition. (2019)

Study of HCAHPs Best Practices in High Performing CAHs - Improvement strategies and effective best practices for each component of Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), collected by Stratis Health through focus group discussions with high performing critical access hospitals CAHs. (2017)

Tools & Resources

Advancing the Practice of Patient- and Family-Centered Care in Hospitals: How to Get Started - In this guide, the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) describes patient-centered care and step-by-step recommendations to integrate these concepts into all aspects of health care. (2017)

Guide to Patient and Family Engagement in Hospital Quality and Safety - The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) developed a guide to help patients, families, and health professionals work together as partners to promote improvements in care. (2017)

Patient and Family Engagement Resource Compendium - Developed by Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), this resource links PFE concepts and strategies to available resources. (2015)

Patient Family Advisory Councils - This toolkit from the Colorado Hospital Association provides a guideline and tools to create a hospital patient family advisory council. (2019)

Profiles & Case Studies

Patient and Family Engagement in Critical Access Hospitals: A Flex Program Story - This resource highlights how the Kansas state Flex Program, in contract with the Kansas Hospital Education and Research Foundation (KHERF), developed a program to support critical access hospitals (CAHs) in implementing aspects of Patient and Family Engagement (PFE). (2018)