This year was my first time becoming involved in health coaching and it has opened my eyes to the human condition. As health professional students, we are often caught up in school work and learning about specific disease states that we may forget that patients exist beyond their health conditions. While a coaching session may be geared towards health education, patients have other aspects of their life worth exploring. While a typical session could focus on diabetes education or tobacco cessation, the fundamentals of health coaching are active listening and offering emotional support. In my time with Word on the Wards, I noticed that sometimes patients are just simply looking for someone to talk to. In situations where patients do not have a strong support system, we, as health coaches, are able to offer a moment of human connection by simply smiling and offering the safe space for patients to share their thoughts and concerns.
One of the most impactful encounters I had was a recent social visit with a patient who has been in the hospital for almost 2 months. Despite his current situation and upcoming surgery, he seemed very pleasant and upbeat. We spent time talking to him about his stay in the hospital so far and he was very willing to share his experience and thoughts with us. After discovering that he was homeless with no family support, I realized that our visit to him was one of the few visits he has had so far during his stay. I believe we made an impact just by spending 20 minutes listening to his concerns and thoughts about his health and the other interactions he has had in the hospital. I was also surprised to learn that he had experience working as a nurse before. He expressed that he did not like being on the other side now as a patient and he wished more nurses and physicians spent time to talk to their patients. I realized that with very few visitors, he appreciated this visit from Word on the Wards and would benefit from more sessions during the remainder of his stay at the hospital. After that moment, I realized that there are probably more patients who are just looking for moments of human connection.
In another coaching session, I visited a patient to focus on diabetes education. To our surprise, she was knowledgeable in her diabetes management and did not know what else to talk about. When we mentioned that we were there to also offer a space for her to talk about anything if she would like, she immediately asked us to pull up a chair and started showing us her little plant collection. She was a positive soul and found beauty in the little things in life. She shared that she grew lonely in her hospital room and tried to befriend other patients on her floor, but she would often get redirected to her room. In that moment, I felt that compassion was the best medicine we could offer and it was rewarding to cheer someone up just by being present and listening.
While I thought my time with Word on the Wards would be spent brushing up on my counseling skills, I actually found a space to practice one of the most important skills of all – connecting with patients through communication and compassion. In our fast-paced health care system, we must be reminded that health care focuses on people and relationships. As health care providers, it is important for us to continually practice the elements of compassion, listening, and communication.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
-- Maya Angelou