Caring for the patient is critical in health care. And that鈥檚 made easier when disciplines work together.
Nearly 1,000 students learned about the power of collaborative care in a special interprofessional event on Wednesday, September 14 hosted by the Faculties of Health Professions, Medicine and Dentistry at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. This is the fifth year that the Faculties have hosted the event.
Paralympic gold medalist Paul Tingley and Judy Lugar, his physiotherapist and sailing world champion, shared with the attendees their experiences about the changing health care system.
The "team"
Mr. Tingley told his inspirational story of becoming a Paralympic champion. In 1994, he suffered a spinal cord injury after a skiing accident. He was treated at Victoria General Hospital and later moved to the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre. This is where he says he encountered the 鈥渢eam.鈥�
Mr. Tingley鈥檚 team of doctors, neurologists, nurses and occupational therapists, which included Ms. Lugar, would meet weekly to discuss his progress. Through a set of goals鈥攕uch as learning to dress himself鈥攈e learned how to tackle daily life in a wheelchair.
鈥淭eams should have a good idea of who their client is,鈥� Mr. Tingley said. 鈥淭he team should respect what each other is doing and know what everyone鈥檚 goal is.鈥�
For Mr. Tingley, his major goal was to wear braces so he could walk down the aisle at his friend鈥檚 wedding. This wasn鈥檛 easy. According to Ms. Lugar, 90 percent of quadriplegic patients don鈥檛 have the body type to handle leg braces. Then there鈥檚 the strength needed to use the braces. While Mr. Tingley, tall and in good shape prior to the accident, was a good candidate for braces, the process wasn鈥檛 easy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 physically challenging,鈥� says Ms. Lugar.
While she could have talked Mr. Tingley out of using braces, she instead helped him to achieve his goal. She says that listening is a key skill for health professionals. 鈥淧rofessionals need to listen and try not to be judgmental,鈥� she said. 鈥淏e a good friend.鈥�
Managing the transition
Three months later, Mr. Tingley left the Centre. He faced difficulties with few support systems in place for people with disabilities. With Ms. Lugar鈥檚 help, he learned to sail with Sail Able, a sailing club for people with disabilities. He won the gold medal in sailing at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
鈥淲hen you leave rehab, nothing can prepare you for the transition,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey helped me build up skills so I could figure things out on my own. Luckily I found sailing.鈥�
Ms. Lugar, who is also Mr. Tingley鈥檚 former coach, warned students against labeling people based on their past mistakes. 鈥淧atients are not just some guy with a broken neck,鈥� she said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 think about people as their diagnosis but as a human being.鈥�
Ms. Lugar ended her speech with a humbling message to the new students. She learned an important lesson in her early days of practice that sticks with her: the patient comes first.
鈥淭he system doesn鈥檛 revolve around me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about how you fit into the system.鈥�