TY - JOUR T1 - Patients and families as teachers: a mixed methods assessment of a collaborative learning model for medical error disclosure and prevention JF - BMJ Quality & Safety JO - BMJ Qual Saf SP - 615 LP - 625 DO - 10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004292 VL - 25 IS - 8 AU - Thorsten Langer AU - William Martinez AU - David M Browning AU - Pamela Varrin AU - Barbara Sarnoff Lee AU - Sigall K Bell Y1 - 2016/08/01 UR - http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/25/8/615.abstract N2 - Background Despite growing interest in engaging patients and families (P/F) in patient safety education, little is known about how P/F can best contribute. We assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a patient–teacher medical error disclosure and prevention training model.Methods We developed an educational intervention bringing together interprofessional clinicians with P/F from hospital advisory councils to discuss error disclosure and prevention. Patient focus groups and orientation sessions informed curriculum and assessment design. A pre-post survey with qualitative and quantitative questions was used to assess P/F and clinician experiences and attitudes about collaborative safety education including participant hopes, fears, perceived value of learning experience and challenges. Responses to open-ended questions were coded according to principles of content analysis.Results P/F and clinicians hoped to learn about each other's perspectives, communication skills and patient empowerment strategies. Before the intervention, both groups worried about power dynamics dampening effective interaction. Clinicians worried that P/F would learn about their fallibility, while P/F were concerned about clinicians’ jargon and defensive posturing. Following workshops, clinicians valued patients’ direct feedback, communication strategies for error disclosure and a ‘real’ learning experience. P/F appreciated clinicians’ accountability, and insights into how medical errors affect clinicians. Half of participants found nothing challenging, the remainder clinicians cited emotions and enormity of ‘culture change’, while P/F commented on medical jargon and desire for more time. Patients and clinicians found the experience valuable. Recommendations about how to develop a patient–teacher programme in patient safety are provided.Conclusions An educational paradigm that includes patients as teachers and collaborative learners with clinicians in patient safety is feasible, valued by clinicians and P/F and promising for P/F-centred medical error disclosure and prevention training. ER -