Introduction
The quality of medical care largely depends not only on current work but also on competent planning. If correct and clear perspectives and goals are established, the process of achieving them takes less time, and healthcare specialists are aware of all the tasks assigned. Moreover, patient outcomes are improved due to highly qualified care and timely communication with providers. In order to analyze this interaction from the standpoint of effective planning, the aims of the national plan called Healthy People 2020 will be considered (“Health communication,” 2019). Patients’ timely contact with healthcare workers is a valuable practice, and such objectives of the program will be assessed as stimulating shared decision making, creating social support networks, and increasing people’s health literacy skills.
Supporting Shared Decision Making
Maintaining productive interaction among patients and providers is largely achieved through the strategy of analyzing the opinions of both parties. Developing shared decision-making is one of the goals of the national Healthy People 2020 program, and the course of work is straightforward in this direction (“Health communication,” 2019). Based on standard communication principles, healthcare professionals should be aware of their responsibility towards patients who, in turn, should trust medical providers. According to Shay and Lafata (2015), the trend of expanding contact has been observed recently, which is the result of the corresponding organizational work under the terms of the national plan. The importance of interaction and exchange of experience lies in the fact that both a patient and a physician can benefit and receive the maximum of valuable information regarding a certain case. Therefore, developing such an objective is a meaningful and reasonable task.
Building Social Support Networks
Helping patients to adapt to temporary difficulties is one of the urgent tasks of medical professionals, and creating appropriate social support networks is a significant objective. Lee, Burnette, Liddell, and Roh (2018) give an example of interacting with women who have overcome cancer and argue that the organization of comprehensive communication programs is an essential psychological factor. If patients realize that they have an opportunity to seek help from instances where guaranteed assistance will be provided, it is an additional incentive for recovery and the support of people in a similar situation.
Increasing Health Literacy Skills
Since medical providers cannot always be close to patients, education should be encouraged. In this regard, one of the objectives of the Healthy People 2020 plan is to increase people’s health literacy skills (“Health communication,” 2019). The emphasis on learning how to self-care and provide first aid is reasonable because, as Shay and Lafata (2015) note, people gain knowledge about the “treatment options, benefits, and harms” of particular interventions (p. 128). Therefore, education entails improving patient outcomes, which is the final objective.
Engaging Personal Experience
Based on my personal experience, I can note that all the three selected objectives are relevant in the context of improving the healthcare system. When I had to discuss the issues of my relative’s illness with his doctor, we managed to establish a trusting contact, and I shared all the available knowledge with the specialist. With regard to building support networks, I was a member of a program to help people with disabilities, and I saw that their community was cohesive due to the established system of social connections. Finally, when discussing the advantages of improving health literacy skills, I should remark that I helped my grandparents to use the Internet for them to communicate with their peers on specialized forums and discuss certain health issues. Therefore, my personal experience proves that all three objectives are meaningful.
Conclusion
The considered objectives of the national healthcare system development plan are significant goals that may be effective in improving the quality of care and patient outcomes. Encouraging shared decision-making, creating social support networks, and increasing people’s health literacy skills are the evidence of competent preventive work. Based on personal experience, I can admit that these practices are relevant and carry many advantages for the population.
References
Health communication and health information technology. (2019). Web.
Lee, Y. S., Burnette, C. E., Liddell, J., & Roh, S. (2018). Understanding the social and community support networks of American Indian women cancer survivors. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 15(5), 481-493. Web.
Shay, L. A., & Lafata, J. E. (2015). Where is the evidence? A systematic review of shared decision making and patient outcomes. Medical Decision Making, 35(1), 114-131. Web.