WSU health communication doctoral student receives research award...

Wayne State Department of Communication doctoral student, Simone Brennan, received the 2014 Project Award from the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) for her project titled "Standardized Patients as Change Agents: Recognizing the Patient Voice in Patient Centered Communication." Brennan is advised in her doctoral work by Associate Professor Julie Novak in the Wayne State Department of Communication.

Brennan's project was chosen for this international recognition, including a monetary award, because it was judged by ASPE to have the potential to make a significant impact in the field of standardized patient education. She is pursuing a PhD in health communication, with a focus on improving patient-provider communication via the modalities with which learners are trained to communicate with patients.

Patient-centered communication (PCC) is a gold standard in clinical encounters. PCC training is receiving increased attention from graduate medical education programs as clinicians/hospitals strive to meet this standard for patient communication as well as meet the expectations of accreditation and funding sources. However, some scholars express concern that development/implementation of the PCC training modules and instruments continue to privilege the doctor's voice, reducing the effectiveness of communication with patients and resulting in continued patient dissatisfaction and poor health outcomes.

Standardized patient methodology offers exciting opportunities for exploring the voice of the patient in understandings of PCC. Simone Brennan's research project 1) analyzes the nature of standardized patient feedback expressed in feedback sessions, 2) examines the nature of standardized patient feedback that was not expressed during sessions, yet expressed after and outside of sessions, and 3) examines the influence of the structure of feedback on the nature of feedback.

Brennan analyzes the discourse between medical residents and standardized patients using quantitative and qualitative content analyses of video-recordings and narrative analysis of patient journals. The goal of the project is to extend understandings of PCC, looking beyond educator-developed articulations of what PCC ought to be and turning to the voices and perspectives of the patients themselves.

Her project was well received, with one ASPE reviewer writing, "The new application of standardized patient methodology (journaling post-encounter) is a technique which could have valuable additional application in other research employing standardized patients."

Simone Brennan is assistant director of clinical evaluation in the School of Medicine at Wayne State University where she writes cases for standardized patient encounters, integrates communication curriculum in high-fidelity simulation training experiences and works with faculty in developing training and assessment tools that support and enhance the school's core curricula. "I have received incredible support from my supervisor, Ron Spalding, and the School of Medicine's administration, as they have fully supported and encouraged my desire to combine my work efforts with my scholarly efforts," Brennan said. "On the academic side, I am fortunate to have an advisor, Prof. Julie Novak, and dissertation committee members who have the expertise to uniquely support my research goals and provide the necessary resources for me as a scholar." Brennan will receive the award and present about her project at ASPE's 2014 annual meeting in Indianapolis in June 2014.

The Association of Standardized Patient Educators is the international organization of simulation educators dedicated to promoting best practices in the application of standardized patient methodology for education, assessment and research; fostering the dissemination of research and scholarship in the field of standardized patient methodology; and advancing the professional knowledge and skills of its members.

Read a feature about Simone Brennan's award in the School of Medicine's Prognosis newsletter.