50th Marion Woodward Lecture
A professor at the University of Ottawa and University Research Chair in Knowledge Translation to Patients, Dr Dawn Stacey presented the 50th Marion Woodward Lecture to about 170 participants on November 8, 2018. She began by laying out a problem: patients are often not given the opportunity to make decisions about their own care. The benefits are manifold and advice of an instructional manual as far back as the 1840s intoned that patient preferences matter, yet students of health care in the 21st century have been routinely taught not to consider them in developing a care plan. Dr Stacey brings practitioners back to placing the patient’s voice at the centre of care. Indeed, at the highest level of partnership, she says, everyone’s voice should be equal.
Dr Stacey’s lecture provided helpful advice, from how to engage patients to take an active part in the process with three questions — prompts provided — to suggestions on how to change current procedures, such as:
- Create health policies to support patient engagement.
- Ensure leadership exists to carry forward change.
- Build a patient-first culture.
- Provide training to health professionals as well as patients.
- Develop tools to support patients as they venture into new territory.
Some of those tools have already been developed. Search online for “Patient Decision Aids” or click decisionaid.ohri.ca to open the comprehensive list created by the Ottawa Hospital. The aids are designed to ensure that team members share the same objectives, by employing guides for everything from specific conditions to any decision — health or social. Dr Stacey demonstrated the usefulness of this support, explaining that she and her husband used the Ottawa Personal/Family Decision Guide to focus their diverse needs when buying a house. Clearly, the tools required are already available to put patients first. What remains is to implement them.
The Marion Woodward Lecture was initiated in 1969. This lectureship marked the first time that Marion Woodward had allowed her name to be used in conjunction with any of the beneficiaries of the Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Woodward’s Foundation. She was an active and kind benefactor to a variety of causes but had suffered loss and personal health issues often enough to develop a strong belief in the importance of BC’s health care system. With her husband, P. A. “Puggy” Woodward, she created the foundation that continues to improve the health of British Columbians. However, it was for the nursing profession that Mrs Woodward held a special respect. As part of his introduction to the 50th Lecture, the current president of the Foundation, Kip Woodward, quoted his aunt: “Doctors are all very well, but the people who actually provide the care are nurses.”
The Marion Woodward Lecture has been made possible through the generous support of the Mr. and Mrs. P. A. Woodward’s Foundation for fifty years.
Fifty Years of Marion Woodward Lectures (a short video): bit.ly/MWL50th
