Perception gaps of patient engagement for patient safety between healthcare professionals and the public in Korea

Abstract

Background

To ensure effective patient engagement, patients’ efforts, partnerships with healthcare professionals, and the organisation’s role in providing safe healthcare settings must be emphasised. Perception gaps regarding patient engagement between the public and healthcare professionals could prevent healthy partnerships from forming and hinder patient engagement activities. This study examined healthcare professionals’ perception of patient engagement and compared the findings with that determined for the public in a previous study.

Methods

An anonymous online survey was conducted in February 2020 among 1,007 healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses). The questionnaire comprised five parts regarding the perception of patient engagement. Descriptive analysis and Chi-squared/Fisher’s exact tests determined the frequency and significant differences among the public from previous study and healthcare professionals in this study.

Results

The perception of the importance of patient safety was high among healthcare professionals and the public. However, statistically significant differences in perceptions were observed among the public and healthcare professionals in all categories. The perception gaps were substantial between the groups in sub-categories of engagement for patient safety during medical treatment; 86% of physicians and 90% of nurses agreed that patients participate in the decision-making for the treatment process. Conversely, 58% of the public agreed. Only 22% of the public agreed with confirming healthcare professionals’ hand washing to prevent infection, versus 57% of physicians and 65% of nurses. More than 89% of healthcare professionals positively perceived medical dispute mediation versus only half of the public. In certain areas such as “medical dispute mediation and arbitration programs”, “fall prevention”, and “infection prevention”, there was a statistically significant difference in the perception of patient involvement among healthcare professionals, with nurses’ perception being particularly more positive than that of physicians.

Conclusions

The healthcare professionals’ perception of patient engagement was more positive than that of the public. To narrow the perception gaps and enhance the public’s perception, strategies involving changes in healthcare systems, promotional efforts, and educational initiatives should be developed. Additionally, strategies should be formulated for healthcare professionals to better engage as partners in patient care.

Keywords:

• Patient safety
• patient engagement
• physicians
• nurses

Transparency

Declaration of financial/other relationships

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contributions

H.J., W.L., and M.O. made substantial contributions to the conception and design. H.J. and M.O. contributed to the interpretation of the results. H.J. and W.L. drafted the manuscript. S.G.J., J.P., E.Y.C., and S.J.B. contributed to the acquisition of data analyzed in this study. H.J., W.L., and M.O. participated in the drafting of the original draft, and S.G.J., J.P., E.Y.C., and S.J.B. participated in the critical review of the article. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Acknowledgements

The authors are also grateful to those individuals who participated in the survey.

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the 2017 Ulsan University Hospital Research Grant [UUH-2018-01] and the Chung-Ang University Research Scholarship Grants in 2022.