Engaging patients and their families in care may not have much use as a safety practice, according to research published in the British Medical Journal for Quality and Safety.
Researchers examined several research databases for articles written between 2000 and 2012 that studied patient engagement as a patient safety intervention in hand hygiene, ventilator-associated pneumonia, rapid response systems and care transitions.
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The study found little evidence of the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of patient engagement practices in improving patient safety. Researchers noted definitions of engagement and a description of scenarios under which engagement would be most useful was lacking from the research reviewed. Willingness of patients to engage in care was also not appropriately addressed.
The study concluded that while engaging patients may have other benefits, more work must be done on the effectiveness of patient engagement interventions to improve patient safety.
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