The SACCIA approach by Professor Annagret Hannawa

Summary

Achieving shared interpersonal understanding between healthcare professionals, patients and families is a core patient safety challenge around the world. The SACCIA model promotes safe communication practice amongst healthcare teams and between providers patients. It was developed by Professor Annagret Hannawa, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Healthcare Quality & Safety in Switzerland.

The interpersonal processes that are captured in the SACCIA acronym are considered 'safe' because they lead to a shared understanding between all care participants:

1. Sufficiency
2. Accuracy
3. Clarity
4. Contextualization
5. Interpersonal Adaptation

The five SACCIA competencies emerged from a communication science analysis of hundreds of critical healthcare incidents. They were identified as common deficient interpersonal processes that often cause and contribute to preventable patient harm and insufficient care. They therefore represent an evidence-based set of core competencies for safe communication, which constitute the vehicle to patient care that is safe, efficient, timely, effective and patient-centred.

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