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Accessible, Informative,
Empowering:
Patient Channel helps
patients
and caregivers better understand health issues
NORWAY,
ME – The Patient Channel is now
available at Stephens Memorial Hospital. This
24-hour patient education TV channel provides topical,
network-quality programming delivered to hospital
patient rooms. The goal of the channel is to educate
patients and their families to increase their awareness
of medical issues, encourage informed communication with
Healthcare Providers, improve their ability to make
informed decisions, and promote a sense of empowerment
during
the times when accurate information is most
needed.
Programming on The Patient Channel
covers a wide spectrum of topics including cancer,
asthma, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure,
smoking cessation, parenting, health/wellness, and other
healthcare
topics. New programs are added throughout the
year.
For
patients, their relatives and friends, The Patient
Channel integrates seeing and hearing which helps in the
retention of information. And the television
medium is one that most people have in their home and
with which they are comfortable. Furthermore, the
channel standardizes and increases access to patient
education content 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week. The
outcome is that our nursing staff is able to recommend
quality, up-to-date patient education programming for
patients in their time of need. Additionally, the
programming is available on The Patient Channel’s web
site for access pre admission and post
discharge.
The
educational content on The Patient Channel is controlled
by independent advisory boards, consisting of experts in
medicine, patient care, education and ethics, whose
objective is to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness
of programming. While the TV channel is
distributed by GE Healthcare, the boards review all
content prior to airing and identify new opportunities
for topics that are
contemporary and of high-interest to the general
public.
“Programming on the channel
empowers patients to take a more active role in their
own care, “ said Dave Ross, manager of The Patient
Channel for GE Healthcare. “Real patients and their
doctors share their stories to help others understand
not just the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of a medical condition,
but also ‘how’ they
can deal with it in a positive
manner.”
Stephens
Memorial Hospital is part of Western Maine Health, a
member of the Maine Health® family.
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