practice partner
Family Rounds for Rounded Care
Model reinforces importance of open communication
DOC TALK
By Stuart Foxman
Illustration: sandy nichols
A
t the Coronary Intensive Care Unit of Toronto’s University Health Network, family
members yearn for recovery and search for
hope. They seek something else that’s vital:
information.
Dr. Chris Overgaard, medical director of the Toronto
General’s CICU and an interventional cardiologist, says
that while the team members work to save lives, keeping
families up-to-date can be a lifeline too. That’s why they
launched a pilot based on family-centred communication.
Since 2014, they’ve given families the option to join the
medical team on rounds.
“We’ve found that by being open, family members appreciate the complexity of the care, and how closely we’re
looking at the situation,” says Dr. Overg