Reinforcing the essential role of families through first impressions of the physical environment.

The physical environment in all of its aspects of space, structure, millwork, furniture, materials, flow, signage, and art has great potential to set a positive tone and invitation for families to be partners in the care of their infants. This article describes design strategies that create a series of positive welcoming first impressions throughout a NICU to support family caregiving and participation as parents of their infant and essential members of the care team.

A Narrative Review of Patient and Family Engagement: The "Foundation" of the Medical "Home".

Background: Patient and family engagement (PFE) is vital to the spirit of the medical home. This article reflects the efforts of an expert consensus panel, the Patient and Family Engagement Workgroup, as part of the Society of General Internal Medicine's 2013 Research Conference.

Objective: To review extant literature on PFE in pediatric and adult medicine and quality improvement, highlight emerging best practices and models, suggest questions for future research, and provide references to tools and resources to facilitate implementation of PFE strategies.

Promoting Patient- and Family-Centered Care Through Personal Stories.

Patient- and family-centered care is an approach to the planning, delivery, and evaluation of health care that is grounded in mutually beneficial partnerships among patients, their families, and health care professionals. It redefines the relationships in health care by placing an emphasis on collaborating with patients of all ages, and their families, at all levels of care, in all health care settings, and in organizational change and improvement. This collaboration ensures that health care is responsive to an individual's priorities, preferences, and values.

Partnering With Patients, Families, and Communities.

Collaborating with patients, families, and communities is a core principle of family medicine. However, the health care system in the United States has grown increasingly complex, fragmented, and difficult to navigate. This system, focused on disease-specific care delivered by specialists, often treats patients as the objects of care rather than as partners in care.

Patient- and family-centered perinatal care: partnerships with childbearing women and families.

Providing patient- and family-centered care is not a simple endeavor. It requires a transformation in organizational culture that is reflected in a myriad of details at the departmental, clinical, and individual provider and patient levels. Patient- and family-centered practitioners know that it is not a recipe or formula of specific practices, but an evolving approach that guides policy and program development, facility design, decision making, and daily interactions throughout the healthcare system.

Designing the neonatal intensive care unit for optimal family involvement.

The design of a new neonatal intensive care unit provides an opportunity to ensure that the new facility best meets the needs of the infants and families whom the unit serves. In design planning,administrators, staff, family members, and the architect must work together in a self-education process that entails examining current design standards, exploring exemplary facilities at other institutions,defining the priorities and needs of infants, families, and staff, and deciding how to respond to them. The involvement of family members in this important work can help ensure that the facility is responsive to families and supports the family as the primary caregiver and decision maker for the infant.