{"id":75108,"date":"2023-10-23T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=75108"},"modified":"2023-11-16T13:04:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T18:04:17","slug":"lifting-up-patients-voices","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/magazine\/articles\/2023\/lifting-up-patients-voices\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifting Up Patients&#8217; Voices"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin magazine-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-secondary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Tanya Lord holding photo of son\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-scaled.jpg 1707w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-1000x1500.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-551x826.jpg 551w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-229x344.jpg 229w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-353x529.jpg 353w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-455x682.jpg 455w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-688x1032.jpg 688w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-881x1321.jpg 881w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-459x688.jpg 459w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-705x1058.jpg 705w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-909x1364.jpg 909w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-1101x1652.jpg 1101w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-1376x2064.jpg 1376w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-1761x2642.jpg 1761w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-002-667x1000.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photos by Eric Moran<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Alumni<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLifting Up Patients&#8217; Voices\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\"><em>A personal tragedy inspired Tanya Lord to dedicate her life\u2019s work to improving the safety and quality of healthcare for all\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar magazine-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">October 23, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-comments\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#comments\" class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter label has-no-comments\"><span class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter-zero\"><span>0<\/span><\/span><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/bu-author\/mara-sassoon\/\">Mara Sassoon<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p><strong>Tanya Lord is on a mission: to improve the healthcare system that tragically failed her family 24 years ago. <\/strong>In June 1999, her four-and-a-half-year-old son Noah had routine surgery to remove his adenoids and tonsils. But in the days that followed, his condition rapidly deteriorated. Noah was briefly admitted to the hospital\u2019s extended emergency department, but soon discharged. Back at home in New Jersey later that day, he hemorrhaged from his surgery site and died.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Lord (\u201988) reflected on the events that led to her son\u2019s death, she saw how the failure of doctors and nurses to listen and communicate throughout Noah\u2019s treatment led to medical errors. For example, convinced her son did not have obstructive sleep apnea as the ear, nose, and throat doctor had diagnosed, Lord pushed to remove only his adenoids and leave his tonsils. \u201cHe guaranteed me we would be back in six months to take out the tonsils and said it would be cruel to put Noah under anesthesia twice. So, we went ahead with the surgery.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the days after the surgery, Noah stopped drinking and eating. He was vomiting and in pain, and was admitted to the extended emergency department for dehydration. Lord continued to feel belittled and condescended to as the hospital discharged him. She was told a nurse would come by the house to set Noah up on IV fluids. That never happened.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay magazine-block-editorial-photoessay wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-square-s-1\">\n<div class=\"photo-s\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-1000x1500.jpg\" alt=\"Tanya Lord \" class=\"wp-image-75111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-1000x1500.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-551x826.jpg 551w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-229x344.jpg 229w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-353x529.jpg 353w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-455x682.jpg 455w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-688x1032.jpg 688w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-881x1321.jpg 881w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-459x688.jpg 459w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-705x1058.jpg 705w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-909x1364.jpg 909w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-1101x1652.jpg 1101w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-1376x2064.jpg 1376w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-1761x2642.jpg 1761w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-667x1000.jpg 667w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-004-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"photo-1\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-1000x1500.jpg\" alt=\"photo of Tanya Lord's son, Noah \" class=\"wp-image-75109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-1000x1500.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-551x826.jpg 551w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-229x344.jpg 229w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-353x529.jpg 353w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-455x682.jpg 455w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-688x1032.jpg 688w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-881x1321.jpg 881w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-459x688.jpg 459w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-705x1058.jpg 705w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-909x1364.jpg 909w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-1101x1652.jpg 1101w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-1376x2064.jpg 1376w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-1761x2642.jpg 1761w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-667x1000.jpg 667w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/23-1335-WHEELORD-001-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn so many different ways, the surgeon had told me I was stupid and that there was no way I could understand,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I knew Noah. I knew everything about him.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time, Lord\u2019s mother, who was head of BU\u2019s African Studies Library, was sending Lord manila folders filled with copies of journal articles about tonsillectomies and posttonsillectomy hemorrhage research from the University\u2019s Alumni Medical Library. The science jargon was often too complex to decipher for a lay reader. \u201cI got increasingly frustrated because I really did believe the universe was telling me I was too stupid to understand what happened to [Noah],\u201d Lord says. \u201cI started thinking, \u2018What am I supposed to do now?\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote magazine-block-bu-pullquote has-image-focus-center-middle has-dark-theme has-light-theme-text\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><figure><\/figure><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">I BECAME INTRIGUED BY THE CONCEPT OF SYSTEMS AND HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE WORKING WITHIN A BROKEN SYSTEM.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Tanya Lord<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>She came to a decision: she wanted to keep Noah\u2019s legacy alive and help the medical community learn from the tragedy. Lord, who\u2019d been a special education teacher, applied and was accepted to the University of New Hampshire\u2019s Master of Public Health program. While her classmates studied more traditional areas of public health, like HIV or smoking, Lord researched why medical errors occur. \u201cI became intrigued by the concept of systems and how individuals are working within a broken system,\u201d she says. \u201cIt helped me take away a lot of the anger toward the surgeon and the nurses and all the people who made mistake after mistake after mistake.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lord went on to earn a PhD in clinical and population health research from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and launched her career educating others on effective communication and patient care in healthcare settings. For more than 10 years, she was the director of patient and family engagement at the Foundation for Healthy Communities, a sister organization of the New Hampshire Hospital Association, where she advised 26 hospitals on effectively working with patients and families at both the direct care and organizational levels.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She recently started a new role as chief innovation officer with the healthcare consulting firm ATW Health Solutions, whose goal is to impact federal policy, working in patient and family engagement and equity. \u201cInterestingly, a lot of strategies I use are familiar to me from being a special ed teacher,\u201d she says. Those concepts include the teach-back method, in which a care provider makes sure patients understand the information they\u2019ve been given by asking them to repeat it. Another is shared decision-making, which involves including patients in decisions about their medical treatment plan. \u201cWhat are the patient\u2019s values? What are their cultural needs? What are their desires for their own health and well-being?\u201d Lord says. \u201cIt\u2019s about bringing the physician\u2019s and the clinician\u2019s expertise in line with the expertise of the patient or the family member. They know their bodies. That\u2019s a type of expertise that can\u2019t just be ignored.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tanya Lord is on a mission: to improve the healthcare system that tragically failed her family 24 years ago. In June 1999, her four-and-a-half-year-old son Noah had routine surgery to remove his adenoids and tonsils. But in the days that followed, his condition rapidly deteriorated. Noah was briefly admitted to the hospital\u2019s extended emergency department, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9090,"featured_media":75110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Alumni","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[6613],"magazine-article-category":[6620],"magazine-topic":[6938],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[6941],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/75108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9090"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75108"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/75108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75996,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/75108\/revisions\/75996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75108"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=75108"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=75108"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=75108"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=75108"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=75108"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=75108"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=75108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}