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Cognitive Load, Human Factors and Well-Being: Next Steps for Human Factors in Health Care
April 30 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
This Grand Rounds lecture series is held in memory of Dr. Lauren E. Benishek, an assistant professor of anesthesia and critical care medicine at the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality from 2016 to 2023. The topics promoted by the series are chosen to advance and showcase research that embodies the spirit of Lauren’s work in meaningful connections in the workplace.
This event will be held in person in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Chevy Chase Bank Auditorium or via livestream.
Presenter
Elizabeth Harry, M.D.
Chief Well-Being Officer, Office of Well-Being
Instructor in Internal Medicine, Medical School Michigan Medicine Office of Well-Being
Session Overview:
In the high pressure realm of health care, professionals must rapidly make critical decisions amid an onslaught of information — a scenario that often results in cognitive overload, error and burnout. This talk will delve into how cognitive load influences both patient safety and health care workers’ well-being, emphasizing the need to manage attentional resources effectively in clinical settings to prevent capacity overloads. We will explore the relationship among cognitive load, stress and decision-making, highlighting the necessity of human factors design to align systems and processes with human cognitive strengths. Our discussion will culminate in a call to action for health care leaders to prioritize cognitive load and attention management. Attendees will gain a deep understanding of cognitive load’s role in health care and receive practical recommendations for enhancing care by focusing on human factors.
About Elizabeth Harry
Elizabeth Harry completed her medical training at the University of Colorado. She was a Macy scholar at the Harvard Macy Institute in Boston, where she won a Macy Foundation award and served in multiple leadership roles including co-chair of the Academy at Harvard Medicine School Wellness Interest Group. She has served as director of quality improvement at Metro Hospitalists. She is a faculty member for the Stanford Medicine Chief Wellness Officer Course and she was the assistant dean of wellness at the University of Colorado. She recently served as the chief wellness Officer at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Dr. Harry has multiple grants related to the concept of cognitive load in medicine, and she has lectured nationally about system redesign, cognitive overload, patient experience, practitioner fatigue and burnout. She has conducted a large study exploring the impact of cognitive load on burnout with the American Medical Association, and she more recently investigated child care stress (a large driver of cognitive load) and measures such as burnout and intent to leave. She leads the collaborative for human factors, cognitive load and burnout.
