WHO: Engaging Patients for Patient Safety – Advocacy Brief (December 2023)

Summary

This advocacy brief aims to raise awareness and calls for action to step up patient engagement in healthcare, in line with the objectives of World Patient Safety Day 2023. Its content was structured to follow the outline of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030, which defines and makes recommendations to stakeholder groups.

Content

Patient engagement is increasingly recognised as being crucial to improving health outcomes and the overall quality of life of patients and their families. If successfully implemented, patient engagement can significantly contribute to a reduction in adverse events, which place a significant burden on patients, health systems and even economies. Patient engagement has been shown to reduce health care costs, positively influence patients’ experiences with health care, improve patient outcomes and improve the performance of health systems.

This advocacy brief sets out why patient engagement is a cornerstone for improving patient safety and considers what progress is being made globally towards increasing this in healthcare. It notes that implementation strategies outlined in the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030 aimed at reducing harm through patient engagement include:

• Co-developing policies and programmes with patients.
• Learning from patient experiences for safety improvement.
• Building the capacity of patient advocates and patient safety champions.
• Establishing a culture of openness and transparency through initiatives such as shared decision-making, patient reporting systems, and disclosure of patient safety incidents to patients and families.
• Providing patient safety and patient engagement education to patients, community members and health and care workers.

It also identifies the following global actions to strengthen patient engagement for patient safety:

• Strengthen the WHO Patients for Patient Safety programme.
• Establish Patients for Patient Safety networks in every country.
• Embed patient engagement in the principles and practice of patient safety through national patient safety rights charters.
• Increase public awareness and provide information and education about patient safety.
• Amplify the voice of patients as a force for the improvement of patient safety.

It goes on to consider this the role of different actors in patient and family engagement, including:

• Patients, families and caregivers
• Governments
• Healthcare leaders
• Health facilities and services
• Patient groups and other stakeholders
• Health and care workers. 

At the end of this brief, the WHO calls on all stakeholders to assume their respective roles in patient engagement for patient safety and to implement the Global Patient Safety Action Plan’s suggested actions for effective patient and family engagement.