Moving Beyond "Professional Knows Best" in Healthcare
FEB 2025 / by Dr Dena van den Bergh / Leading Healthcare Change
"As a quality leader in healthcare, I’ve experienced more than a few cases where a medical error could have been avoided if the nurse or doctor had listened to the patient and/or their family." - Dr Dena van den Bergh
One of the big barriers we still need to overcome in healthcare change is the paradigm of “professional knows best” which excludes the voices of patients and families.
In 2022, I presented on this topic at the Quality and Safety Conference at Africa Health.
The Power Imbalance Between Health Professionals and Patients
As a quality leader in healthcare, I’ve experienced more than a few cases where a medical error could have been avoided if the nurse or doctor had listened to the patient and/or their family.
I’ve heard parents tell me they knew something was wrong but kept quiet, or when they did say something they were made to feel like a nuisance.
Which is why movements such as the “Speak Up” campaign and “No decision about me without me” campaigns have gained momentum globally.
But it’s not just about speaking up when things go wrong. Including the voice of patients in shaping future health systems is crucial.
The Value of Patient-Centred Care
There’s a lot of talk about patient-centred-care, but when it comes down to it too many decision makers see the patient as the “customer”.
So you’re always doing things FOR them, and not WITH them.
In her crusade to be heard, Sara Rigarre who lives with Parkinson’s disease pointed out that to manage her disease she spends one hour a year in neurological healthcare and 8,765 hours in selfcare.
In her words: “Who knows more about the effects of my treatment plan? The neurologist or me?”
When Sara, an engineer by training, decided to do her PhD research on tracking her disease, she was asked “Why don’t you just give your data to a proper researcher?”
Long story short, she took on the system including gaining access to her medical records so she could integrate it with her data.
This changed the mindset of the health professional team around her to be interested in listening to her findings.
You can now read about her work and learnings on her website, including accessing her PhD, here!
Not every patient is ready to do what Sara does.
Her story inspires me to keep being an advocate for fully engaging with patients and families in health systems improvement.
I hope you will join me!
Have you come across this paradigm in healthcare or have a story about when listening to patients and their families paid off?
LOVE THIS POST? SHARE IT WITH OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND CHANGE LEADERS
Hi, I'm Dr Dena
van den Bergh.
I'm an award-winning healthcare change leader, global researcher and large scale change maker.
With a career spanning over 30 years as an executive in healthcare, I am an authority in change leadership and health systems innovation with experience on the hospital front lines to the boardroom, international conference stage, and beyond.
I have worked with South Africa's largest healthcare groups and funders in the public and private sector and collaborated with global change leaders in large scale health systems improvement.
My Doctorate in Engineering from Warwick University gave me a love for systems thinking which I integrated with my clinical expertise to create a unique approach to healthcare change leadership.
I now work independently with leaders, teams and organisations to successfully implement health systems improvement co-designed with stakeholders.
My goal is to empower accomplished and emerging leaders to thrive in their lives and their careers and inspire them to make a powerful impact in shaping the future of health systems globally.
I am an industry leader in change leadership and implementation of health systems improvement as well as a passionate advocate for value-based care and addressing the gap of vital employee and public input into designing better health systems for all.
In 2015 I was awarded the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in Quality Improvement in South Africa by Discovery Health for my change leadership work across the public and private sector.
A world citizen at heart, I frequently collaborate internationally and present and publish my work at the global level in order to expand my contribution and exchange knowledge to better my own work.
I am an honorary research associate at UCT Dept. of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV and a senior editor for the peer reviewed international journal JAC-AMR.
I am also an internationally certified leadership coach, an IHI trained Healthcare Improvement Advisor, an advanced Presencing and Theory U facilitator for social change and certified in Leadership Mastery with the Institute of Woman-Centered Coaching, Training and Leadership.
I am a committed yoga, meditation and wellness practitioner and love spending time in nature with my friends and family.
JOIN MY COMMUNITY
ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
Join my online community of global health professionals where we have valuable and candid conversations about change leadership, wellbeing for health professionals, women in healthcare and healthtech, and much more!
PRIVACY POLICY | COPYRIGHT 2025 DR DENA VAN DEN BERGH