Wound care awareness is not like other areas of healthcare, where there is one day, week or month that is universally accepted and celebrated. Different organizations and wound centers choose to celebrate wound care awareness at different times of the year.
As professional wound healers it is important for us to take some time out of our busy schedules (year round) to focus on educating populations about the dangers of non-healing wounds.
Melissa Bailey is Director of Education at Wound Care Advantage and our in-house expert on this subject. She discussed the importance of teams in wound healing making wound care awareness a priority year round.
“Non-healing wound care patients need to know that they are the most important person on their wound healing team. (Tweet This Now),” Bailey said. “While our physicians and clinicians begin the healing process inside the clinic, patients and caregivers are responsible for following that plan on a day-by-day basis. They should be empowered with wound care knowledge that is relevant and easy to understand.”
In the wound care niche of healthcare we are constantly coming across patients and families that are completely new to the world of wound healing.
“Oftentimes someone with a non-healing wound has been removed from the various activities in life that they loved to do,” she said. “I am passionate about wound care education because at the end of treatment plan is a patient who deserves to get back to the things and people they love.”
Wound healing can be very confusing and scary to newcomers.
“Many people fail to realize that the wound itself is not the problem,” she said. “Rather, it’s a combination of conditions and comorbidities that have created a wound unable to move through the healing process.”
The team at Wound Care Advantage is busy educating patients at each of our hospital’s wound centers across the country.
“We have a robust database of wound care and hyperbaric medicine patient education handouts and videos,” Bailey said. “We also produce new offerings on a quarterly basis. Local language needs of our facilities are addressed to make sure our education is relevant and understandable. In addition, this year we have implemented quarterly caregiving seminars at some of our facilities and have seen very positive results.”
Managing the fears of wound care patients and their families is a big priority.
“Non-healing wounds can be socially isolating and it’s not uncommon for patients to live with a wound for months or even years before they reach out for help,” she said. “If they wait too long, serious problems can occur and lead them down a path of impending limb loss.” Spreading education about wound care helps people to understand that non-healing wounds are treatable! (Tweet This Now) Patients should know that effective treatments are available that can save the limbs and lives of non-healing wound care patients. If you have questions about wound healing email our team at patient@thewca.com
