Author(s)

Eliza L. Y. Wong¹, Siufai Lui¹, Annie W. L. Cheung¹, Carrie H. K. Yam¹, Nicole F. Huang¹, Wilson W. S. Tam², Engkiong Yeoh¹

¹The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
²Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

A patient-centered approach is used to build a therapeutic alliance between patients and the healthcare professionals in care process which should be supported by a good engagement of both parties. The study aimed to explore the gap between healthcare professionals and patients on patient engagement in hospital. It was a cross-sectional survey. 2774 doctors and nurses from Department of Medicine of public hospitals completed the self-administered questionnaire and 1042 patients discharged from corresponding wards completed the telephone interviews. Participants were interviewed using structural questionnaires. The Mann-Whitney test or Pearson’s chi-square test was used to analyze the agreement between health-care professionals and patients on the views and experiences of patient engagement. A difference was considered to be statistically significant when the p-value was <0.05. Although both groups valued the importance of patient engagement, there was a discrepancy on understanding, views and experiences. More healthcare professionals particularly in nursing were concerned about the possible negative impact of the engagement. The majority of healthcare professionals reported that they engaged well with patients, and perceived more difficulties than patients did. The findings highlighted the mutual understanding of patient engagement, involvement and challenges encountered by both groups in Department of Medicine, which was crucial in efforts to provide meaningful patient engagement in regards to jurisdictions, health system, specialty, discipline and background of patients. It provided insight that a collaborative strategy involving both healthcare professional and patients might be an alternative approach to improving patient engagement.

Patient Engagement, Patient Satisfaction, Patient Experience, Patient Centered Care

Wong, E. , Lui, S. , Cheung, A. , H. K. Yam, C. , Huang, N. , W. S. Tam, W. and Yeoh, E. (2017) Views and Experience on Patient Engagement in Healthcare Professionals and Patients—How Are They Different?. Open Journal of Nursing, 7, 615-629. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2017.76046.