Utilization of Patient Meetings on an Adolescent Ward

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Abstract
This paper reports on our three-year experience with weekly patient meetings on a newly formed pediatric ward for adolescents. The meetings are voluntary, and any topic may be discussed. Representative material is presented regarding patients' responses to food, the ward routines, interactions with the staff, and death. We have found that the group sessions offer a nonthreatening opportunity for patients to meet and get to know one another; they provide a forum where patients can combat against submitting to a passive role by actively participating in advising on ward policy and patient concerns, and they provide a built-in safety-valve in times of ward disruption due to deaths or other stresses. It is our belief that one of the major reasons for the ward's success has been the ease of patient-staff communications fostered by these meetings.

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