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Bringing the parent’s perspective to patient and family−centered care at Mott

"No one knows more about a specific child than the parents. The health care team is the expert on the science, but the parents are the experts on the child," says Kelly Parent, who speaks with the quiet conviction that comes from having lived on both sides of the equation. As Parent Coordinator for University of Michigan C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital, she is now a health care team member.

Her philosophy and approach to providing health care, however, are rooted in her experiences and insight as the parent of a child who has been a patient in the oncology department at Mott. This double−edged perspective has helped her strengthen patient and family−centered care (PFCC) at Mott, through system−wide education efforts.

Kelly Parent brings her expertise on what it’s like to be a parent of a child being treated at Mott to her training sessions she conducts on patient and family−centered care. She’s worked with nursing, medical, social work and other students and staff.

To date, she has held training sessions on PFCC for graduate social work students (MSW), new nurses during cluster orientation, third year medical students, undergraduate nursing students and students doing their Child Life practicum at Mott. It is education she is positively passionate about.

Her training sessions are a living example of the principles of patient and family−centered care in action, as she will often bring panels of parents to her classes. As she puts it, "There's no better way to learn than when real people tell real stories. Hearing the stories from families who have been in health care crises makes a deep and lasting impression."

In her one− to two−hour training sessions she uses quotes and anecdotes from families to communicate the importance of patient and family−centered care to her students. She recounts one story of a family that was dealing with the twin crises of a father battling cancer and his daughter who had a brain bleed. One day, the father walked into the room to find the neurosurgery fellow praying over his daughter. It was a gesture that moved him immensely.

In another story, the family of a child who had complicated gastrointestinal surgery scheduled received a call from their doctor at 9:30 p.m. the night before the operation. He asked if they had any last minute questions. According to the family, the phone call made them feel their child was being seen as a person, and not just another case. Kelly describes such spontaneous expressions of compassion as "moments of truth" that can transcend good, even great medical care. She says, "Until you have been through a medical crisis, you won't know how much the little kindnesses matter." Her classes, she explains, are an attempt to stimulate those kindnesses.

Want to learn more about PFCC? Contact Kelly at parentk@med.umich.edu to schedule a training session.