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Patients' and family members' experiences of open disclosure following adverse events

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Version 2 2024-06-03, 23:01
Version 1 2015-08-24, 14:12
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-03, 23:01 authored by R Iedema, R Sorensen, E Manias, A Tuckett, D Piper, N Mallock, A Williams, C Jorm
OBJECTIVE: To explore patients' and family members' perceptions of Open Disclosure of adverse events that occurred during their health care. DESIGN: We interviewed 23 people involved in adverse events and incident disclosure using a semi-structured, open-ended guide. We analyzed transcripts using thematic discourse analysis. SETTING: Four States in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. STUDY PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-three participants were recruited as part of an evaluation of the Australian Open Disclosure pilot commissioned by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. RESULTS: All participants (except one) appreciated the opportunity to meet with staff and have the adverse event explained to them. Their accounts also reveal a number of concerns about how Open Disclosure is enacted: disclosure not occurring promptly or too informally; disclosure not being adequately followed up with tangible support or change in practice; staff not offering an apology, and disclosure not providing opportunities for consumers to meet with the staff originally involved in the adverse event. ANALYSIS: of participants' accounts suggests that a combination of formal Open Disclosure, a full apology, and an offer of tangible support has a higher chance of gaining consumer satisfaction than if one or more of these components is absent. CONCLUSIONS: Staff need to become more attuned in their disclosure communication to the victim s perceptions and experience of adverse events, to offer an appropriate apology, to support victims long-term as well as short-term, and to consider using consumers' insights into adverse events for the purpose of service improvement.

History

Journal

International Journal for Quality in Health Care

Volume

20

Pagination

421-432

Location

Cary, N.C.

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1353-4505

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2008, The Author

Issue

6

Publisher

Oxford University Press