Whole Patient Care: Awareness And Attitude Of Babcock University Teaching Hospital Health Caregivers
Authors:   ,   Andrews University, Victoria Aja 
Published: June 2023

Statement of the Problem. This study seeks to understand Babcock University Teaching Hospital (BUTH) health caregivers’ awareness of and attitude to whole patient care for the purpose of developing whole patient care at BUTH. I have been tasked to help develop and establish whole person care at BUTH. Babcock University Teaching Hospital is still at a developmental stage. It has not established an institutional definition of whole patient care, nor has it established an institutional office for the promotion and administration of whole patient care or hired a full-time chaplain. Method. This study adopted a quantitative (survey) and qualitative (Focus Group Discussion) mixed methods research design. A two-day workshop, comprised of lectures and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted at BUTH to create awareness on the importance of whole patient care for the purpose of developing and contextualizing whole patient care in the BUTH setting. Sixty-six staff participated in the study. Fifty- four (54) of the 66 responded accurately to the quantitative survey, amounting to an 81.81% participation rate, while all the 66 (100%) participated in the FGD. Prior to the workshop, a questionnaire was developed and administered to determine participants’ awareness of and attitude towards whole patient care and at the end of the lectures and FGD, the same questionnaire used at the beginning of the workshop was administered to determine the influence of the lectures and FGD on participants’ awareness of and attitude to whole patient care. After the lectures, FGD was conducted to determine how to contextualize whole patient care in the BUTH setting. Finally, participants were asked to evaluate the intervention, i.e. the lectures and FGD, to determine its relevance to the workshop. Results. The overall outcome of the study indicated an increase in participants’ awareness of and attitude to whole patient care. The mean score after the workshop was higher than the mean before the workshop ( P< 0.05), an indication that participants understood the importance of whole patient care and wished for the development of whole patient care at BUTH. The qualitative data generated a number of themes supporting the overall outcome. Emerging from the themes is the BUTH philosophy and definition of whole patient care as supposed by the participants. Conclusions. The post-workshop survey showed that the workshop elicited a change in the opinion of many participants who, at the beginning of the workshop, felt that BUTH had no further need for change in its philosophy of care and approaches. Participants embraced whole patient care in all its facets and wished for its development at BUTH. Howbeit, participants felt that the success and sustainability of whole patient care at BUTH is reliant upon staff welfare/motivation and leadership attitudes. A dialogue between BUTH management and staff on staff welfare/motivation and its influence may facilitate quality whole patient care at BUTH. From this, it can be seen that whole patient care is vitally important. The evidence is based on the interrelatedness among the physical, spiritual, social, emotional aspects of human life and the positive effects of these aspects of human life on health as presented in Chapter 3. Moreover , as discussed in Chapter 2, whole patient care is fundamentally rooted in the Bible. It was evident in the healing miracles Jesus perfomed and in E. G. White’s writings.