Providing patient education is one of the most challenging but important aspects of nursing care.
Canopy Cancer Care is a medical oncology/haematology centre based in Auckland, New Zealand, providing world class patient care, delivered locally. Canopy continuously looks for ways to improve the quality of the care we provide. Our latest patient focused quality improvement project is Canopy TV - an online education resource made up of a number of short videos covering some confronting topics that patients and their families might be faced with during their treatment journey.
After a distressing diagnosis, patients identified that they need time to review and reflect on the information given, ideally in the privacy of their own homes. The aim of Canopy TV is to provide interesting and topical information to cancer patients and their families in a format that they prefer. Video was identified as a useful and necessary tool to support the existing traditional methods of providing patients with information. Topics address areas and subjects that patients are uncomfortable discussing in a face-to-face consultation or are too overwhelmed to absorb. We hope the information provided will increase people’s understanding of cancer and showcase interesting clinical developments in cancer treatment.
Canopy TV is developed and presented by a team of Specialist Oncologists, Nurse Specialists and multidisciplinary experts such as Psychologists, Dietitians, and Exercise Physiologists as well as patients and supporters. Content is not just for Canopy patients, but is available to the broader cancer community. Canopy TV is accessible via Canopy Cancer Care website, Canopy Facebook page or via YouTube.
As we move more and more into the digital age, a digital solution to information sharing is imperative. We know that patients absorb information in different ways and so it is necessary to accommodate that need. By using the patient voice, we have been able to engineer a solution that is slick, useful and relevant.