How do we empower and energize patients to be active participants in their own care? That was the question-of-the-day at the recent EMPOWER Symposium in Birmingham, Ala., and long-term care leaders came with answers.

On Jan 9, 2015, sixty long-term care professionals from across five states attended the event designed to improve patient engagement and quality of care for older adults.

The event was hosted by atom Alliance at the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation (AQAF) in Birmingham, Alabama, in partnership with the Alabama Coalition for Culture Change (ACCC) and sponsored by the Pioneer Network. Attendees came from universities, long-term care organizations, hospitals, senior services and nursing homes to hear speakers from Advancing Excellence in Nursing Homes, the Pioneer Network, the Administration for Community Living and more offer solutions and opportunities to advance patient engagement.

“Our vision is to empower consumers to be catalysts for safe, quality healthcare for all individuals, better health for communities and better value for our healthcare dollar,” said Liz Prosch, co-founder of the ACCC and Vice President of Quality at AQAF.

The ACCC, organizer behind the EMPOWER event, was formed in 2007 to sustain healthcare quality improvement work advanced by AQAF. Today, the ACCC is a 501c3 non-profit connected to over 40 other state coalitions through the national Pioneer Network.

EMPOWER stands for Energizing and Motivating People to Organize and Wake an Engagement Revolution. The event helped participants explore collaboration opportunities to use their collective impact to improve patient engagement.

Rita Morris, a former caregiver and now patient advocate, said, “If we educate consumers, we encourage them and we empower them. Then, we can help to make changes happen.”

Another goal at the event was to encourage others to participate in a new consumer engagement advisory panel chartered to empower healthcare consumers to improve the healthcare delivery system. The goal aligns with the National Quality Strategy and focuses on the Triple Aim of better health, better care and lower costs.

Karen Guice, current ACCC president and Lead Ombudsman for Jefferson county, shared her insight: “I learned very quickly that as an ombudsman, my major responsibility was being an advocate for residents and family members. It didn’t take long to realize that it was also . . . trying to help people voice their needs themselves.”

That’s just what supporters of EMPOWER intend to help others do, while improving the quality of care they receive along the way and sharing their success.

For more information about the ACCC and EMPOWER, contact Liz Prosch at 205-970-1600 x 3314.

EMPOWER Event Videos

• Watch personal interviews—features event speakers discussing their professional and personal missions, EMPOWER and the Alabama Coalition for Culture Change.
  • Carol Scott, Field Operations Manager, Advancing Excellence in Nursing Homes campaign
  • Karen Guice, Lead Ombudsman–Jefferson County, AAAC President
  • Kathy Lieblich, Director of Network Relations, Pioneer Network