Creating a Sensory-Friendly Environment for Children With Autism in Primary Care - Essay Sample

Introduction

The main challenge encountered in the previously assigned area of work is the lack of a sensory-friendly environment for children with autism spectrum. Thus the area we plan to improve in the primary care clinic is to create a sensory-friendly environment for children on the autism spectrum in the pediatrics primary care setting.

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Measurable Overall Goal(s)

The plan shall have two distinct measurable goals. First is the attainment of optimal patient comfort and satisfaction at the center. This shall entail compliance with nursing policies to deliver high-quality primary care experience (Davidson and Henderson, 2017). Secondly is a reduction in time taken to access services, cost of service, and patient distress.

Purposed Action

To improve the primary care clinic and create a sensory-friendly environment for children on the autism spectrum, we shall first educate all nurses that offer primary care on autism spectrum. The training shall be done via audiovisual presentation, and an evaluation of individual understanding shall be done (Lanoye, Stewart, Rybarczyk, Auerbach, Sadock, Aggarwal and Austin, 2017). Parchman, Von Korff, Baldwin, Stephens, Ike, Cromp and Wagner (2017) noted that also parents can be utilized as experts of their child to know how to adapt care to every single child's unique needs. The waiting room sensory environment shall be then modified, and finally, the patient's level of satisfaction shall be evaluated through the use of a questionnaire.

Anticipated Outcomes

The anticipated outcomes of this primary care improvement action plan include decreased patient stress and increased the level of patients' satisfaction. According to Launer (2017) it is also anticipated that patients shall be more comfortable with the sensory environment, and the caregivers shall also experience higher satisfaction in their work.

Obstacles and How to Address Them

Cost is one of the main barriers that the care improvement plan shall face. However, the plan shall utilize only available resources in the clinic (Ailey, Brown and Ridge, 2017). Chapman and Blash (2017) noted that another challenge is lack of sufficient knowledge on the autism spectrum may be another obstacle. However, the use of free online education resources on the autism spectrum shall provide adequate knowledge on the autism spectrum.

Refrences

Ailey, S. H., Brown, P. J., & Ridge, C. M. (2017). Improving hospital care of patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Disability and health journal, 10(2), 169-172.

Chapman, S. A., & Blash, L. K. (2017). New roles for medical assistants in innovative primary care practices. Health services research, 52, 383-406.

Davidson, J., & Henderson, V. L. (2017). The sensory city: autism, design and care. Care and Design. Bodies, Buildings, Cities, 74-94.

Launer, J. (2017). Narrative-based primary care: a practical guide. CRC Press.

Lanoye, A., Stewart, K. E., Rybarczyk, B. D., Auerbach, S. M., Sadock, E., Aggarwal, A., ... & Austin, K. (2017). The impact of integrated psychological services in a safety net primary care clinic on medical utilization. Journal of clinical psychology, 73(6), 681-692.

Parchman, M. L., Von Korff, M., Baldwin, L. M., Stephens, M., Ike, B., Cromp, D., ... & Wagner, E. H. (2017). Primary care clinic re-design for prescription opioid management. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 30(1), 44-51.