Barbara Slevin at ICPIC 2019

Inviting patients to speak and participate at medical congresses originally reserved  to professionals is an important step forward for our health systems. This was the case of ICPIC 2019,  the gathering of  1300 specialists of infection and prevention control  from 99 countries, founded by Professor Didier Pittet of Geneva University Hospitals.  I was honored to help introduce the principles of “patient-includedness” to the ICPIC organizing committee and to moderate and or speak at several sessions. 

And so, I had the great fortune of sharing a panel and wonderful exchanges with Barbara Slevin, Assistant Director of Nursing, Infection Prevention & Control at the University Hospital of Limerick,*  who is “patient-included” from the get-go. Her testimonial appears below. Denise Silber

“How important it is to include patients in the conversation on prevention and infection control and how has ICPIC, as a patient included meeting, helped to achieve this”?

Barbara Slevin: I was delighted to be invited to speak in Geneva, Switzerland at International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control  ICPIC,  September 10-13, ICPIC 2019.

“Patient participation and empowerment in infection prevention and control is critical to the successful implementation of Infection Control programs and hospital practices.”

My presentation was titled: “Becoming Patient Centered: Insight into CPE-positive Patient’s Experiences of Clinical Care”.  I have for many years taken a patient-centred approach to Infection control including Quality Improvement strategies and was delighted to see that this conference was patient-included.  

The impact CPE has on patients and their families cannot be underestimated as it shapes their life and their future hospitalisations.  The human costs of CPE cannot be quantified. However patient stories demonstrate the impact this MDRO has on patients’ lives.  Often scientific evidence drives change.  However, from our experience in our hospital group, the impact of the patient’s stories has left an indelible impression on staff in our hospital, and sharing this experience both through publication and presentations at conferences will support others to actively care for CPE patients holistically.

      #PinkSocks for Barbara

Patient stories change the narrative of patient care. Healthcare professionals see beyond the patient in the bed, see further than the laboratory tests, and recognize that this person has several other competing issues and that Multi Drug Resistant Organisms further impact on their recovery.

These are some other initiatives that we have implemented in order to place patients central to Infection Control  practice in my hospital group ULHG Limerick Ireland.  I was part of a project team which implemented an initiative “What Matters to you,”   previously introduced in Scotland.

“What Matters to You” is a program that supports person-centeredness in care. It is a simple approach to capturing issues that are important to the individual in the hospital, that when known by staff can improve patient experiences. We have

@BabsSlevin on Twitter

successfully implemented this in our infection control cohort ward, providing an avenue for patients to be seen holistically not as the patient “with the bug”.    This approach supports caring conversations and compassionate  care for our already vulnerable patient groups.

Our “Values in Action movement” in our Hospital Group has 9 core values, several of which are central to patients.

        “Am I putting myself in other peoples shoes”?

                    “Use my name and your name”

                                “Keep people informed-explain the now and the next”

                                                   “Do an extra kind thing”

*Barbara Slevin, Assistant Director of Nursing, Infection Prevention & Control for CPE Management. UL Hospitals Group, University Hospital Limerick, St. Nessan’s Road,Dooradoyle, Limerick, V94 F858

*Bairbre Ní Shleibhín, Stiúrthóir Cúnta Altranais, Cosc agus Rialú Ionfhabhtuith do Bhainistíocht CPE. Grúpa Ospidéal OL, Ospidéal na hOllscoile, Luimneach, Bóthar N. Neasáin, Luimneach, V94F858

Biography: University Limerick Hospitals Group

Barbara is an Assistant Director of Infection Control Nursing in University Limerick Hospitals Group, Ireland. She qualified as a RGN in 1995 and graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons, with a Master’s Degree in Nursing in 2007, where she conducted a seminal research study on hand hygiene in Ireland. She is a senior nurse leader with over 17 years working in the specialised field of Infection Prevention & Control. She is the Healthcare Associated Infection Lead for the University Limerick Hospitals Group and manages the infection control service for Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) for this group of acute hospitals in the Mid-west region. She has collaborated with a multidisciplinary team in the design of an interdisciplinary Infection Prevention and Control in Healthcare module, in University of Limerick and is a member of the organising committee for the Safe Patient Course in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) in Ireland. She has undertaken post-graduate training in the Royal colleague of physicians (RCPI) on Leadership and quality improvement. She has co-authored several published studies in the academic literature and presented at several national and international infection control conferences. Her main interests within infection control are hand hygiene, Quality Improvement, CPE and patient’s experiences. Her personal goal is to lead and influence the agenda of patient centeredness in infection control at a national level. She is a member of the Infection Prevention Society UK, and Infection Prevention Control Ireland (IPCI).

The post Why is ICPIC’s Patient-Included Status Important? Reply from Barbara Slevin, University Hospital Limerick #ICPIC2019 appeared first on Doctors 2.0.

Demonstration by Pr. Pittet of 5-step handwashing

We are honored to present to our readers this special focus on the first “patient-included” edition of ICPIC conference, under the leadership of founder Professor Didier Pittet.

Why is this newsworthy? Because it is so rare! When annual  congresses for physicians first came into being, not only the attendees, but the speakers as well were physicians; even today, this is the case in the vast majority of these conferences. We don’t know where and when a professional medical congress first invited patients to attend and to speak.  Fortunately, the idea that patients should be an integral part of a medical congress about …. helping patients (!), while not yet widely implemented, is at least no longer one that can be publicly shot down.

So, why did ICPIC choose to become patient-included? As Professor Pittet explained to us, “Patient participation and empowerment in infection prevention and control has been a matter of reflection and research for many years in different part of the world. Encouraging patients and relatives to remind physicians, nurses, and healthcare staff to clean their hands during patient care practices is part of the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Hand Hygiene in HealthCare from the very first draft proposed in 2006, and initiatives and researches have been conducted on several occasions with, at times, good results. These efforts and results have been used within the framework of the “Patients to Patient Safety” initiative, part of the WHO global movement to improve patient safety launched by WHO in 2005.  Nevertheless, to my knowledge, no meeting in our field has gone the next step and organized a “patient-included” conference, where patients are fully included in the organization, the production of content, sharing the titles, topics, lectures, meet-the-experts, and all other key moments of such an event. I am looking forward to these unique moments that ICPIC 2019 will offer to all of us.”

Taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, September 10-13, ICPIC 2019 is the fourth edition of the International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control. ICPIC brings together 1200 people from over 100 countries, to learn about advancements in infection control. This conference, which takes place every two years, was created a decade ago by Professor Didier Pittet. In addition to his professional responsibilities at the hospital, at WHO and in other public health organizations,  and his work in creating the widely used alcohol-based handrub (!), Professor Pittet has been traveling the world for many years, putting into action multiple methods to encourage proper handwashing by healthcare professionals.  (See the video below presenting the 5-step dance for proper hospital handwashing).

How should patients be invited to medical conferences and under which conditions? Quite often, the relations between conferences and patients is left unclear, and patients can suffer as result. So in the spring of 2015, a group of people, primarily based in Europe, drafted the  “Patients Included™ conference charter.”   Five criteria were adopted for what would be a self-certification, enabling the conference organizer to assure that the event would meet basic patient needs. Doctors 2.0 & You, in its original annual event model, was known for being one of the first in Europe to invite patients as keynote speakers and attendees, and the first  (2015) to fill these requirements.

The “patient-included” self-certification is based on satisfying five criteria. See also http://www.patientsincluded.org

1. Patients or caregivers with experience relevant to the conference’s central theme actively participate in the design and planning of the event, including the selection of themes, topics and speakers.
2. Patients or caregivers with experience of the issues addressed by the event participate in its delivery, and appear in its physical audience.
3. Travel and accommodation expenses for patients or carers participating in the advertised program are paid in full, in advance. Scholarship are provided by the conference organizers to allow patients or carers affected by the relevant issues to attend as delegates.
4. The disability requirements of participants are accommodated. All applicable sessions, breakouts, ancillary meetings, and other program elements are open to patient delegates.
5. Access for virtual participants is facilitated, with free streaming video provided online wherever possible.

ICPIC  responded to the self-certification requirements as follows:

1. Patient speakers and the patient advocacy group at Geneva University Hospitals participated in the design, planning, and revision of the program. They proposed and developed new sessions regarding the patient experience and perspective.
2. All sessions are open to patients. Disability requirements of participants are accommodated. The venue is fully equipped to accommodate patients with special needs.
3. Travel and accommodation expenses for participating patients Patients who speak at the conference have their registration, accommodation and travel arranged by ICPIC. Patient attendees pay no registration.
4. There will be Facebook live streaming of most of the patient-included track, organized by the Geneva University Hospitals.
5. A track of “patient-included” sessions, running from beginning to end of each day, is underscored in  the scientific program. Some highlights are:

• September 10: The pre-ICPIC workshop, addressing implementation strategies for infection prevention and control, includes discussions around patient participation in healthcare-associated infection prevention. The opening plenary session  is devoted to “patient-included” facets of infection, prevention, and antimicrobial resistance control. Vanessa Carter will open with “her perception of healthcare-associated infections”
• September 11: A patient participation platform will be held  from 13h15 to 14h15 entirely designed and lead by patients. This platform is of course open to every registered delegate.
• September 12:   During “Empowering key stakeholders in infection prevention and control” Vanessa Carter will present “How to empower patients?”
• September 13:  At 9h00 on  “World Sepsis Day: Worldwide initiatives” A talk will be presented by Francesca Stingele on “Severe infection: the patient perspective”

In addition,

• Patients are moderating several sessions
• ICPIC is preparing a video documentary with  patients and professionals on the theme of “patient-includedness” and I will be doing these interviews.

And interestingly physicians who have experienced infections will also testify as patients.

Having led interviews with the infectious disease physician experts last year, to lay the groundwork for the patient-includedness actions, and then helped prepare the next steps, I am very excited to be attending in Geneva and participating in the multi-modal, on-site “patient-includedness” program.  Denise Silber

The post How and Why is #ICPIC2019 a #PatientIncluded conference? appeared first on Doctors 2.0.

The opening keynote will be given by antibiotic resistance patient advocate and social media expert, Vanessa Carter , also a long-standing member of the Doctors 2.0 & You ambassador network. Patients are not only speakers, but have participated in the program design, the venue is fully accessible, and attending patient expenses are covered in advance by the organizers. Finally, the conference will be live-streamed.

ICPIC is thereby, for the first time,  a “patient-included conference” and given all the activities in support of patient involvement, a partner of Doctors 2.0.

Watch the brief welcome video below, and come back soon for more about #ICPIC2019. Denise Silber will participate to moderate several sessions and to report on the event through interviews with patients and clinicians and via social media.

ICPIC  has this account on Twitter  and this page on Facebook.

The European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control (APSIC), the Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are all represented at the event.

ICPIC keynotes, symposia, Pro-Con debates, free-papers and meet-the-expert sessions will continue, as will the unique and very popular ICPIC Innovation Academy and ICPIC Clip Award, as well as new features.

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