The emergency communication Hong Kong pilot

About the project

The Emergency Communication Hong Kong Pilot (also called “The patient journey through accident and emergency departments: The critical role of communication”), funded by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Faculty Funding Dean’s Reserve, was conducted in one the most highly attended public accident and emergency departments (AEDs) in Hong Kong.

The research team spent over 80 hours collecting data on ten patients’ journeys through the AED, from initial presentation to the decision point regarding hospital admission or discharge. Follow-up interviews were conducted with participating patients and their relatives (if present) concerning the patients’ experiences. In addition, AED staff participated in semi-structured interviews and questionnaires on communication.

The Hong Kong Pilot was unique in its examination of the movement and morphing of information as it was translated from spoken interactions in Cantonese to written medical records in English.

The Hong Kong pilot study achieved four key aims: (1) it successfully trialled and validated the research methods for understanding communication in care transitions within the Hong Kong context; (2) it identified the essential elements of effective clinician-patient communication in a local AED setting; (3) it disseminated the results of this research to local clinicians; and (4) it highlighted the viability of the proposed project and its research team.

Publications

Slade, D, Chandler, E, Pun, J, Williams, G, Matthiessen, C, Lam, M, Espindola, E Veloso, F, Tang, S, Tang, KS, Tsui, KL, (2015). Effective Healthcare-worker-patient Communication in Hong Kong Accident & Emergency Departments. Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine. Vol. 22(2).
Pun, J, Chan, EA, Wang, S, Slade, D (2018). Health professional-patient communication practices in East Asia: An integrative review of an emerging field of research and practice in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Mainland China. Patient Education and Counselling.
Pun, J, Matthiessen, C, Williams, G, & Slade, D (2017). Using ethnographic discourse analysis to understand doctor-patient interactions in clinical settings. SAGE Research Methods Cases. 10.4135/9781473979697.