On 13 July 2016 in Chuhuyiv under the project supported by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Donetsk (Dnipro office) Change Agency “Perspectives” team shared its excellent experience in problem solving with family doctors, nurses, administrators of Chuhuyiv primary health care center. Mykhailo Dovgopol and Elena Reshetnyak conducted the training.
Well, what was suggested this time to the audience? To explore not only in a theory, but also in practice, some tools, algorithms of effective problem solving.
The introductory discussion on the definition of the "problem" concept was really interesting. Participants proposed quite a lot of different definitions. But a medical background of the audience meant very much. One of the participants very originally described this term: "Problem – it is something that violates people mental health and accompanied by somatic, sleep disorders". But how trainers by themselves defined “problem”? According to them, the problem is a situation when there is a difference between what we want and what we have. Moreover, it appeared that problems - it is an integral part of our daily lives. They are endless, as endless changes in our world. In the apt words of one of the training participants: "Any doctor is some kind of a manager who must firstly see the problem and then timely solve it."
Incredibly interesting were offered exercises on this topic. At first, some stereotypes were defined. Especially captivating were the stereotyped perception of patients by doctors. It turned out that patient could be not only a sick human being that needed medical treatment. As Elena Reshetnyak noted, the patient is also someone who cares about his/her health and requires preventive consultation with a specialist. Further, the audience was offered an exciting conundrum. The essence of «out of the box thinking» expression was clearly demonstrated. Participants agreed that the lack of money – it is not a dead end in Ukrainian medicine. We need only to look at this problem from another angle and to truly desire to act, to make efforts.
Also medical professionals and administration of primary health care center in groups practiced skills of problems defining and wording. The "diagnosis", correct definition of the problem could be considered as one of the key to a successful problem solving. In addition, the "brainstorming" technique was explored on the typical problems of Ukrainian medicine example. Then groups tried to organize all named ideas with the help of affinity diagram. And to determine the root causes of these problems the "fish bone" diagram was used, which the training participants especially liked.
What were the problems on which the audience worked? They are: children's vaccination, preventive patient`s visits, queues to family doctors. It was found that the deeper you immerse in any problem, the harder it becomes to find the causes of it. But, at the same time, it becomes more fascinating. If you succeed in the root causes finding, if you find what exactly generates this problematic situation, it won’t be very difficult to form an action plan. And then, only the implementation of what have been planned will be required.
