Even though medical harm is prevalent nationwide, experts and advocates struggle to increase awareness about patient safety risks and spark support for effective solutions. The Betsy Lehman Center partnered with FrameWorks Institute to change how people think and talk about this important public health issue.
Experts and the public think differently about patient safety
There is a noticeable gap between experts and the general public — as well as many health care professionals — about the challenges and solutions to the problem of medical error across the country.
Commonly-held assumptions stand in the way
People have difficulty understanding patient safety challenges because of the way they think about medicine — including human error, the role of systems in health outcomes and decision-making. These commonly-held assumptions lead to a consistent underestimation of the problem of safety, impede public engagement with large scale solutions, and ultimately inhibit improvements in patient safety.
When communicating about patient safety, organizations and advocates need to:
This 'MessageMemo' outlines the hows and whys of communicating effectively about safety
Read the Patient Safety Beat article
Listen to the WIHI 'radio talk show' podcast from IHI
Exploring the gaps between what we know about patient safety and what non-experts understand
A 'deep dive' into the messages people currently hear about patient safety from the media and the safety community
FrameWorks Institutes’ methods for improving communication about complex topics are unique and effective. CEO Nat Kendall-Taylor explains.