Running head: EDUCATING PATIENTS IN THE WAITING ROOM

Bridging the Gap Between Physicians and Patients: Enhancing the Patient Experience

with Educational Pamphlets in the Waiting Room

Mohamed Tayem

Michigan Islamic Academy

EDUCATING PATIENTS IN THE WAITING ROOM

Abstract

This paper aims to provide various means of effective use of a patient’s time while

waiting in a waiting room for an appointment or to be seen by a member of the health care staff.

What different ways are there to make waiting time more useful for patients? There are various

possibilities, including having a slideshow run on a TV in the waiting room so patients can read

and educate themselves. The slideshow could include a brief video which provides explanations

and information on various topics. The slides can even be voiced over for those that have trouble

reading. Another way to put waiting time to good use would be to inform people about ways to

avoid injury and/or sickness by handing out pamphlets which could be read while waiting or at

home. These pamphlets could convey the same material as the slide show, but just as an

alternative method of presentation.

Bridging the Gap Between Physicians and Patients: Enhancing the Patient Experience

with Educational Pamphlets in the Waiting Room

EDUCATING PATIENTS IN THE WAITING ROOM

Background

Waiting times in physicians’ offices have long been topics of complaints. Whether it is

the feeling that the physician is overbooking his practice, or that there is time spent waiting with

no explanation for what could be occupying the staff, the issue of having to wait is often

accepted. A 2014 study in the American Journal of Managed Care showed that patient’s recorded

an average wait time of 40 minutes before seeing their health care provider (Bleustein et. al,

2014). The waiting time is usually spent wasted and was shown in the study to be correlated with

increasing patient dissatisfaction with their provider. What if we could fill this time with a

different, more beneficial activity?

Improving one’s health is the entire reason behind the office visit and providing

supplemental information outside of the physician encounter itself would aid the patient in

improving their health. Typically, the physician is able to address one or two ailments of a

patient per encounter due to the time allotted for the visit. Taking advantage of the waiting room

time already spent at the office to further learn about medical topics to improve their health

would be extremely beneficial. Not only is it an issue of time but it is an issue of topic. As an

example, one of the most common office visits in the US is due to diabetes related issues, which

according to the CDC is a cause of 34.6 million visits annually (Center for Disease Control,

2015). At these visits, the patient addresses specific diabetes related pathology such as nerve

damage and pain and loss of sensation. A lot of the severity of these diseases can be prevented

by very simple measures taken by the patient, but often times they do not know the information

necessary and the office visit is so centralized on treating their specific issues that there is no

time to talk about preventative measures. Keeping up to date with vaccinations, maintaining a
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healthy diet and avoiding certain foods, and exercising are all information that could easily be

conveyed to the patient to improve their health in addition to their meeting with the physician.

Method

Patients will be provided with medical information in the form of a slideshow that can be

auto played on a TV screen in the waiting room as well as a pamphlet that has a brief summary

of the slideshow containing visual aids to have patients take home. Since waiting room time is

variable patient to patient and there is no single standard, patients may not have the time to view

the full slide show or may first enter the clinic at different points during the presentation, so

providing them with the pamphlet would allow them to continue reading and learning at different

points in the visit such as being seated in the patient room but waiting for the health care

provider or nurse, and even, the opportunity to take a pamphlet home to have a constant reminder

at any point. The information that would be on the pamphlets would be general medical

information from sources such as the CDC, which according to research by Consumer Reports,

would be composed of medical knowledge that physicians would like their patients to know

(What Doctors Wished They Knew, 2011).

While waiting to be seen by a healthcare professional, patients in the waiting room will

benefit by watching a slideshow that provides information on how to reduce the chances of

becoming ill or injured. Literature review research done by the Ghulam Shabiralyani in the world

recognized Journal of Education and Practice showed that the use of a visual aids such as

presentations and paper copies significantly increased effectiveness in retention of material when

compared to orally presented information alone (Shabiralyani et. al, 2015). Retention of material

with combined oral and visual aid was shown to be about 20% greater than that of oral

information alone. Also demonstrated by their research was that slideshows and pamphlets both
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provided specific benefits but came with their individual weaknesses as well. Two notable

weaknesses were the poor cost effectiveness as the pamphlets and the difficulty of slide

maintenance with the presentation. The slideshow will include information from how to reduce

sickness or chances of getting sick to how to reduce injury or risk of injury. The pamphlets will

include the same information but in a reduced form since it is harder to put all of the information

on a limited amount of space. The pamphlets and slideshow will have short, brief points that are

easy to read and understand. A recent article published by the New York Times and credited by

multiple other sources said that recent research had demonstrated a decrease in the average

current attention span of adults to be about 8 seconds (Egan, 2016). Specifically, the pamphlets

will be composed of different sections related to issues of health that physicians believe to be

critically important and often times underlooked, in which failure to take care of may result in

extensive worsening of their disease as shown by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

One area that physicians find to be important but may be overlooked by patients is the different

types of vaccinations, their importance, and what failure to take the vaccinations may cause

(American Academy of Family Physicians, 2017). Another is nutrition, daily caloric intake, daily

recommended values and foods to avoid. Nutrition is the gateway to the human body and failure

to supply the body adequately and properly can worsen disease processes. Failure to manage

nutrition properly is often correlated with increased risk of diabetes, cancer, and other diseases

that make up a large portion of patient office clinic visits today (Barnard et. al, 2009). A third

area that tends to be overlooked by patients is exercise, the benefits of exercise, and examples,

including calorie calculations that provide patients with easy ways to take care of their body

(AAFP, 2017).

Disuccision
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Vaccinations

Vaccinations are one of humanity's most vital medical discoveries. From the first vaccine

in the late 1700’s against cowpox, and up until the recent rise in flu shot vaccinations, vaccines

have been critical in eliminating diseases before which were detrimental to human life. In recent

times there has been growing opposition to the use of vaccines, with people citing the risk of

autism and other health disturbances. A 2013 study by the CDC, along with numerous other

studies, demonstrated hardily that here was no increased risk of autism from vaccinations

(DeStefano et al., 2013). Due to media access being more easily obtained in this generation,

when compared to the ease of accessing research studies, many people may not have been

exposed to these research findings. Thus, this information must be shared with patients to let

them know that it is safe to receive their vaccinations and maintain their health.

Exercise

Exercise is one of the most important ways to maintain health. It impacts different organ

systems and builds the strength to fight different diseases. It should be a routine part of daily

lives and currently research by the Mayo Clinic recommends 150 minutes of moderate aerobic

exercise for most healthy adults, spread out through the duration of the week as well as strength

training for all the muscle groups two times a week (Laskowski, 2016). Achieving these numbers

can be done in different ways including running, jogging, biking, swimming and playing

different sports. Although it may seem to be common sense that exercise should be a regular

activity, research by the CDC in 2013 showed that up to 80% of Americans do not get the

recommended exercise (Jaslow, 2013). Providing patients with this information will encourage

them and remind them to get the exercise that they need to positively impact their health.

Health in Islam
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Health is extremely important in Islam and has been approached from various angles.

Whether it’s from the Quran where Allah mentions avoiding alcohol and other intoxicating

agents, and even extending to the hadith of the Prophet, it is a topic that is definitely present in

the religions. In one strong hadith, narrated by Abu Huraira, the Prophet PBUH is narrated as

saying that a strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer (Sahih

Muslim, 800 AD). Strength comes from many sources but in this case it can be understood that

the prophet may be referring to physical strength which comes from maintaining one’s health. In

another hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, the Prophet (PBUH) was noted saying to teach your

children swimming, archery, and horse riding (Fadailur Ramyi Fi Sabilillah, Hadith: 15). This

has been translated by many scholars as hinting at the importance of exercise and taking care of

one’s body. All of these activities carry with them elements of strength, focus, and discipline

earned from regular exercise. Not only is there evidence of the importance of health as conveyed

by the Prophet (PBUH), but Allah (SWT) himself tells us himself how important health is even

when compared to one of the five pillars of Islam. In the second chapter of the Quran in Surat

Al-Baqara he mentions how fasting is one of the pillar of Islam required by all believers with the

exception of those who are not in good health (Quran 2:183-185) We can take away from this the

value of taking care of one’s self that even when compared to one of the great pillars of the

religion that it takes priority.

Maintaining Reading Interest

Considering the main topic throughout the slideshow and pamphlets consists of

educational material regarding general health, some may lack a keen interest in this information

if the presentation is not appealing. A study at the University of Wisconsin showed that

maintaining interest for a research group was correlated with increased success in that group to
EDUCATING PATIENTS IN THE WAITING ROOM

follow the instructions given to them (Harackiewicz, 2002). The conclusions from this study may

be reasonably extrapolated to indicate that interest in the resource material may result in an

increased proportion of the patients following the medical information provided.

One way to keep the audience interested is to make the material amusing to the readers

depending on their age; however, since there are patients of all ages visiting the clinic that may

be difficult to achieve since research demonstrated by Dr. David Seiler showed that different age

groups tend to have differences in their learning style depending on age, with the younger school

age population preferring more visualized style of learning than their older counterparts (Seiler,

2011) . So, in order to produce informational material that will reach the widest audience and to

have the audience be interested, providing resource material containing a combination of both

visual and text based information would be most effective.

Another way to keep the audience more interested is using aids such as pictures and

tables throughout the slideshow as supported by the research completed by the Journal of

Education and Practice (Shabiralyani, 2015). Text alone without visual or graphic elements is not

as appealing to the reader who tends to either ignore the slide or put the pamphlet back.

Furthermore, research shows that it is effective to keep the points brief. The information should

not be too long to the point where it bores the reader, but at the same time, not so short where the

reader would not understand the content of the message.

An alternative method of learning

The medical field possibly more than any, is composed of a diverse background of

people. Disease does not discriminate between race, language, or culture and affects everyone

equally. For that reason alone, medical offices are composed of some of the most diverse groups

of people. People are different and learn in different ways, and treatment of patients should be
EDUCATING PATIENTS IN THE WAITING ROOM

individualized to accommodate their different learning methods. While no guarantee can be

made that each physician treats their patient’s respective to their needs, the medical education in

the office waiting time provides an alternative method of exposure to the patients. Some people

learn by being talked to and through discussion, but others learn better and are more receptive to

more visual cues and a slideshows and pamphlet will accommodate to these people. While

information provided by brochure or slideshow is not as wholesome as what the doctor would

provide, it is a takeaway that will still provide some benefit to the patient while making more

effective use of their time in the waiting room.

Conclusion

Time is something that cannot be replaced and large portions of time are spent in the

hospitals and medical clinics waiting to be seen by the staff physicians and other medical

professionals. Patients spend it either on their phones, or watching TV; activities that are of no

real benefit. Patients can spend that time more efficiently, and by being educated on how to

better their health, and more beneficially as well. By providing patients with a slideshow

presentation in the waiting room as well as paper pamphlets, they will receive exposure to

medical information by a different modality than what they get with a face to face in person

interaction, which to some may be favorable with their learning style. Providing information

about vaccines, exercise, and nutrition will help patients improve their overall health and serve as

a reminder that although diseases often impact a certain system, by taking care of their entire

body and maintaining their health, they can improve their quality of life. If a patient is going to

spend time in the waiting room anyways, why not spend it learning about how to reduce

doctor’s visits altogether?

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References

Barnard, N. D., Weissinger, R., Jaster, B. J., Kahan, S., & Smyth, C., (2009). Nutrition Guide for

Clinicians. Washington, D.C: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Bleustein C., Rothschild D. B., Valen A., Valaitis E., Schweitzer L., & Jones R. (2014, May).

Wait TImes, Patient Satisfaction Scores, and the Perception of Care. The American

Journal of Managed Care. http://www.ajmc.com/journals/issue/2014/2014-vol20-

n5/wait-times-patient-satisfaction-scores-and-the-perception-of-care?p=1

Consumer Reports Organization. (2011, February 5). What doctors wished their patients new.

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ex.htm

DeStefano, F., Price C. S., Weintraub, E. S. (2013). Increasing Exposure to Antibody-

Stimulating

Proteins and Polysaccharides in Vaccines Is Not Associated with Risk of Autism. The

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Egan, T. (2016, January 22). The Eight-Second Attention Span. The New York Times. Retrieved

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Familydoctor.org Editorial Staff. (2017). What You Can Do To Maintain Your Health. American

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https://familydoctor.org/what-you-can-do-to-maintain-your-health/

Hadith Muslim,.(pp. Sahih Muslim, Book 46, Hadith 52)

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Harackiewicz, J., Varron, K., Tauer, J. M., & Elliot, A. J. (2002). Predicting success in college:

longitudinal study of achievement goals and measures as predictors of interest and

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Jaslow, R. F. (2013, May). CDC: 80% of American adults don’t get recommended exercise.

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Lakowski, E. R. (2016, August). How much should the average adult exercise every day?

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Sahih Bukhari,. (pp. Sahih Bukhari, Book 20, Hadith 4711)

Seiler, D., Age and Learning Style in the Adult Learner. The Journal of Human Resource and

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(2015). National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey [Data file]. Retrieved from

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