Distinguished Lectures: Two distinguished lectures on medical safety

Speaker: Ayse Gurses, Ant Ozok, Johns Hopkins University
UCL Contact: Jo Iacovides (Visitors from outside UCL please email in advance).
Date/Time: 14 Jan 14, 15:00 - 17:00
Venue: Roberts G08
Further Information:

The event is FREE, but please register by 3 January 2014 so we know numbers for the reception. Please register via:

http://tinyurl.com/ofblx85

Abstract

Despite significant advancements in medical technology and surgical techniques, cardiac surgery is still a high risk procedure. We conducted a study to identify and categorize safety hazards (anything that has the potential to cause a preventable adverse patient safety event) in the cardiac operating room using a human factors engineering approach. We used direct observations, complemented by contextual inquiry and photographing, to prospectively identify and classify safety hazards in the cardiac operating room in a multi-site study. An interdisciplinary research team collected data during the 2.5 day site visits to 5 US hospitals. We identified 55 major types of hazards related to the five components (individual, tasks, tools, physical environment, and organization) of the cardiac operating room work system. In this presentation, we will discuss our findings related to hazards in cardiac surgery and discuss our ongoing efforts to improve care for cardiac surgery patients.

Technology Interventions to Improve Medication Adherence among Older Adults

Medication adherence can be defined as taking the right medication at the right time and correct dosage. Lack of medication adherence has been shown to have severe health-related and financial consequences, including being the likely cause of 10% of hospital admissions and 23% of nursing home admissions in the U. S. Older adults living in assisted and independent living facilities can benefit from assistance with the management of their medications especially as their cognitive abilities diminish. To understand medication adherence practices and barriers among older adults and their potential attitudes and potential acceptance of a technology intervention to improve adherence, we developed and implemented 65 older adults in an independent living facility with an age mean of 83 who took on average six prescription medications per day. Our results indicated an average adherence level of 63% among this population, with daily memorized routines being the most common practice to maintain adherence. They had positive attitudes concerning an adherence technology to improve their adherence and thought of it as potentially useful, but did not show much interest in receiving help from their facility for their adherence. The study can inform future studies from a human factors perspective on the development and wide-scale deployment of medication adherence technologies for daily use.

Ayse Gurses, Ant Ozok