Two years ago, Sunnybrook Professional Practice and Education Leader Leanne Hughes came to Whyte with a research idea about how to help staff and family deal with the challenges associated with two specific groups in long-term care: veterans living with dementia and patients recovering from traumatic brain injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve known Leanne for 15 years and we\u2019ve done research together in the past,\u201d Whyte said. \u201cShe came to me and said: This is an issue we have. How do you think we could look at researching it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking at are person-centred approaches,\u201d said Hughes, referring to a growing emphasis in health care that invites patients and family members to be involved in decision-making and strategizing ways to care for individual patients from a wide-range of services. It\u2019s a more collaborative care model than a traditional top-down medical approach to care.<\/p>\n
In the fall of 2018, Whyte led research that included focus groups of those working in long-term care at the Toronto hospital such as doctors and hospital staff, as well as families of those in care.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Brock University professors Joe Norris and Colleen Whyte hand a USB drive to Leanne Hughes from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Brock and Sunnybook partnered on a research project that included a 20-part video around patient-centred care. Pictured from left are Brock alumni Nadia Ganesh, Candice De Freitas Braz and Mike Metz, Hughes, Norris, Brock master\u2019s student Kevin Hobbs, Whyte and Brock alumni Bernadette Kahnert.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe interviewed people who are doing this every day,\u201d Whyte said. \u201cThis research is about taking the principles of person-centred care and trying to see how they are translated on a daily basis, when all partners experience unexpected challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the focus group data in hand, Whyte then turned to Norris, Chair of Brock\u2019s Department of Dramatic Arts, who worked with the student-run Mirror Theatre to translate the conversations into dramatic action, known as ethnodrama and applied theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took the focus group transcripts, read them, analyzed them and created dramatic scenes,\u201d said Norris. \u201cThe purpose is to evoke conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result is a 20-part video series, each dealing with a different component of the long-term care experience. They range from something as simple the challenge of what to pack when a family member is moved into a new living situation to what to do when a patient whose mind no longer has much of a filter says something that crosses a line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about answering the question of \u2018How do we treat each other with respect in stressful situations?\u2019\u201d Norris said.<\/p>\n
He said the Dramatic Arts students who were acting the parts in the videos \u2014 including the patients who are represented as shadowed silhouettes rather than specific people \u2014 learned about more than just acting.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany cast members say they don\u2019t only get extra-curricular experience with theatre, they get the experience of dealing with a range of topics. It\u2019s like an extra class for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With the video series now complete, the next stage of the project is to create workshops for staff and families.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives staff some insight and helps them think, \u2018If I\u2019m in this situation, let me strategize and be thoughtful about what options I have,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt will equip new staff with possibilities and allow existing staff to be reflective about their approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Brock University alumni Nadia Ganesh, Bernadette Kahnert, Lindsay Detta and Candice De Freitas Braz interpret a scene from Finding dignity within the shadows at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto Wednesday, Oct. 2.<\/p><\/div>\n
Hughes said when the final videos were shown to those working with veterans suffering from dementia and patients dealing with brain injuries, the staff were impressed with how accurate they were in reflecting the situations they deal with.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been an absolute pleasure to see students take this data and enact it,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cWe were in awe of their ability. They did a fantastic job.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project, which was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant and a Practice-Based Research and Innovation Seed Grant from Sunnybrook, will continue with the development of facilitator tools and training sessions. Those will be developed and led by Norris and Kevin Hobbs, a master\u2019s student in Social Justice and Equity Studies, who directed the Finding dignity within the shadows <\/em>series and incorporated the research into his master\u2019s thesis.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re training videos, but not in the sense of, \u2018Here\u2019s how you give a needle,\u201d said Norris. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a dialogic conversation where our audiences are invited to comment on the scenes and add their own insights and stories.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the full Understanding Person-Centred Care<\/em> video below and<\/span> individual scene videos can be found at this link<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n