Training video: how an innovative heath system lets transgender (and all) patients know they matter – simply, profoundly, by using their name

Take a look (click here if you’re on a mobile device and the video doesn’t show below):

As I posted yesterday about learning and behaving in a respectful way for the people we serve, I’ve been given permission to share this example of how it’s done in an innovative health system – Kaiser Permanente Colorado (@KPColorado).

The video is part of a series called “Take Two” which accomplishes training in a “time-efficient, clear, and playful manner.”

As a training video, it presents the background of why this is important, how to behave, and specific steps staff can take in the electronic health record to achieve this goal:

We want members to feel recognized as the individuals they are – a profound but simple way to do this is to use the person’s name – the name they like to be called

There’s one best-practice add that’s suggested by a colleague who reviewed the video:

Putting pronouns in parentheses for those of us who can’t change our legal sex. (so under preferred name it would say “Rocky (he/him)”) or something like that. (Garrett G.)

Here’s what I love about the video:

• The behavior isn’t that difficult – just ask people what they want to be called, and listen to the answer.
• We’re not waiting for electronic health record systems, which are notoriously and unhelpfully “gendered” to be reprogrammed – there are ways to incorporate respect into present day systems (as we work diligently to rearchitect them).
• This works across any population, not just people who are transgender. This is less “cultural competence,” more “cultural humility.”
• It comes from organizations I admire, Kaiser Permanente Colorado (@KPColorado) and the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership (@LMPTalk). Both are national leaders in health care quality, innovation, and human rights (Kaiser Permanente Colorado now covering transgender services in plans – The Denver Post | Ted Eytan, MD)

Recognizing members/patients for the individuals that they are – Kaiser Permanente “What do you like to be called?” (direct link to video)

People might wonder if it’s realistic for 200,000+ employees to be trained to be as sensitive and caring for every population served in every encounter (and there are 300 ethnicities in our care system). I think it is, because the video is not an intervention, it’s a reinforcement of what we believe about the the care we provide.

Thanks a ton, again, to Kaiser Permanente Colorado and their members, staff, nurses, doctors (one in particular, Deb Friesen, MD), and leaders, including those in our Coalition of Labor Unions, for taking time to focus on the health of the people we serve, so they can spend their time focusing on having good lives.

We can let our members know they matter, it’s worth the effort

Credit: Kaiser Permanente Colorado Customer Experience Department, JSL Creative Learning

The team would love feedback, feel free to post in the comments or tweet me @tedeytan