Empowerment and partnership: stronger together.

Abstract

‘Confidence and hope do more good than physic.’ When Claudius Galen, a notable Greek physician in the second century AD, penned these words he spoke of a great dilemma in medicine at that time. Certainly, he did not have access to the type of medical advances we now take for granted; surgery carried considerable risk to life and limb; botulinum toxin only existed in the wild type form with lethal effect; and interventional therapies were non-existent. Despite this, Galen saw a pattern in his work that valued the therapeutic relationship: those patients with whom he developed trust and rapport seemed to do better. Whatever the medical condition, if a doctor could instill a sense of partnership and self-belief in his patients, they were both more likely to see improvements. The past few decades have seen enormous advances in the management of childhood disabilities such as cerebral palsy. Galen would (happily?) turn in his grave to see the positive impacts of early intervention, intramuscular botulinum toxin, deep brain stimulation, and multilevel orthopaedic surgery. Yet his vision of the doctor-patient relationship still rings true. One of the most powerful therapeutic tools we have is the impact of the words we speak, how we make our patients and their families feel, and the strength of self-belief we foster in providing support for long-term care. The importance of placing the person and family at the center of health care and the effect of empowerment is well established.1 However, its importance is increasingly recognized at the organizational level by the expectation that clinical staff embrace core values to ensure a consistent approach is applied and which has benefits for all.2 In this way a person-centered approach becomes a demonstrable behavior of the entire workforce, not just the enlightened few. Choosing Wisely (www.choosingwisely.org) is a global movement in health care which aims to empower patients and clinicians by promoting key conversations on those aspects of care which provide high quality.3 If we can develop an effective partnership with our patients/clients and their families, how then should their care providers work together as partners? It comes as no surprise that connected, multidisciplinary care is not only valued and rewarded, but also increasingly expected when evaluating the quality of hospital and community health and disability services.4 At an organizational level, each of the three founding Academies* of the International Alliance of Academies of Child Disability (IAACD) have recognized the importance and value of partnerships – all candidate academies who apply to join the IAACD must demonstrate that their organization has a multidisciplinary membership base. The Ninth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AusACPDM) will be held in Auckland, New Zealand in March 2018. The meeting will present the latest in research and innovative practice in the field of childhood disability and related health care. Over 4 days, attendees will gain knowledge and insights from experts in developmental paediatrics, early intervention, orthopaedic surgery, genetics, and more, through a diverse and exciting mix of plenary presentations, free papers and posters, workshops, and breakfast sessions. These attendees will do so under the banner of these two words – empowerment and partnership – which serve as critical ingredients for success in health and disability care. To get the best outcomes we need first to arm not only ourselves but our patients with key knowledge, to engage in shared decision-making for effective treatment choices, and provide support in working together for the future.