Families as "faculty": parents educating caregivers about family-centered care

The Family Faculty program of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia trains parents of children with special health care needs to present classes on family-centered care to physicians, nurses, and other hospital staff. Content of the classes weaves together the philosophy of family-centered care with individual family stories that relate the family's experience of illness as well as their care needs. Over the first year of its existence, the program educated over 900 employees in a 3,500-member workforce. Evaluation responses to the program have been uniformly positive. Educating caregivers about family-centered care through the stories and perspectives of parents enriches inservicing about communication and collaboration.