Meet Highland's Integrated Medical Family Systems Consultant

JaCon Canese Washington, D.Min., M.C.P.C. is Highland Hospital's first Integrated Medical Family Systems Consultant, transitioning from her previous role as Senior Chaplain of the Spiritual Care Department.  In this new leadership role, Dr. JaCon works collaboratively with Highland’s nursing, medical, and other interdisciplinary teams, as well as sickle cell patients, to build an awareness about sickle cell disease (SCD) and the challenges both patients and staff confront with long-term and repeated hospitalizations to treat chronic debilitating pain.

Dr. JaCon earned her Doctor of Ministry degree, with a concentration in Peace Building and Interfaith Dialogue, from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester. In addition to serving as Senior Chaplain at Highland and Chaplain at Renewing Your Mind Counseling and Psychological Services, she also served as a Chaplain at Strong Memorial Hospital in the Burn/Trauma Intensive Care and step-down units, Neuromedicine Intensive Care Unit, Trauma/General Surgery and Colorectal Unit, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, with an additional 24-hour rotational focus on palliative care, surgical progressive and intensive care, emergency psychiatric care, emergency obstetrical care, and emergency trauma and critical care. She is also a licensed minister who has served as Associate Pastor at a church in Rochester and visiting pastor at churches throughout Upstate New York and Southern Pennsylvania.

We asked Dr. JaCon about her work experiences, her new role, and her interests.  

Q: How long have you worked at Highland and in what roles?

Dr. JaCon: “August 21, 2023, is when I joined Highland Hospital as Medical Consultant after serving as our Senior Chaplain for nine months. I’m ‘living the dream’ and filled with gratitude that I’m able to engage in such meaningful and valuable work on a continuous basis, inside and outside of the hospital. I’m in a beautiful season of life and there’s a great sense of alignment. I’m connecting with patients and collaborating with colleagues in ways that are transformational; I’m part of an incredible team.”

 

Q: How did you develop an interest in spiritual care and patient care?

Dr. JaCon: “It started quite some time ago. The valuable teachings and examples set by my exceptional parents and grandparents, throughout my childhood, were instrumental in molding me into an altruistic individual with love and passion for God, and a desire to provide various levels of care and advocacy for individuals, from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, who experience various levels of adversity. That, combined with an innate desire to understand various aspects of the human condition and care for individuals facing difficult times, was the impetus for academic, personal, and professional pursuits that aligned with spiritual care and patient care. Hospitals are special places where the need for care and support is ever-present. This is where the magic happens, where there’s great diversity, where there’s incredible talent, where every individual is equally important, and where everyone has a meaningful purpose. We all get to do our part and, hopefully, make a positive difference together.”

 

Q: Explain how you help patients through your work at Highland, Strong, and Renewing Your Mind Counseling and Psychological Services.

Dr. JaCon: “Crisis intervention has always been an important and steady part of the care I provide along with coaching, consultation, and chaplaincy services. I am intentional about partnering with patients and clients, their families, and colleagues within multidisciplinary care teams to offer holistic care by considering existential realities, beyond the symptoms of illness, and addressing past, present, and anticipated issues and concerns. Multidisciplinary care is imperative because physical, psychosocial, and spiritual factors, including various forms of trauma, can all play a major role in a patient’s overall ability to respond well to treatments and interventions. There’s often a correlation between a patient’s backstory and current health condition. Such information can be quite useful as we customize care and aim for the best possible outcomes.”

 

Q: How is your role as Integrated Medical Family Systems Consultant work on interdisciplinary clinical teams? 

Dr. JaCon: “In short, I am working to improve the overall patient experience for complex care patients; mainly, the sickle cell patient population. This includes training and supporting inpatient and outpatient teams as we work towards improving transitions of care. I am tasked with fulfilling responsibilities on the staff side and the faculty side of the position as our healthcare system becomes more intentional about incorporating biopsychosocial-spiritual and trauma-informed care approaches to our solid biomedical framework. I’m serving within Highland Hospital, Strong Memorial Hospital, and the Complex Care Center. This is all part of Sally Rousseau’s [LCSW, LMFT, Director of Social Work and Care Management] incredible vision; her initiative has garnered support, far and wide.

 

Q: What is the health equity component of your role?

Dr. JaCon: The goal of health equity is to ensure that every patient has the opportunity to receive the highest level of care and reach their highest level of health; it seeks to understand, address, and mitigate historical and systemic injustices. It’s reassuring to know that the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Health Equity Program Support Office is eager to back vital transformations within our healthcare system. I greatly appreciate the valuable input and unparalleled support I’ve been receiving since accepting this new role and engaging this meaningful work.”

 

Q: From your vast experience in patient care, is there an experience that stands out that is an inspiration to you or that reminds you why working in health care /health equity/spiritual care is so important?

Dr. JaCon: “My Chaplain Residency at Strong Memorial Hospital was the experience of all experiences. I provided pastoral care, spiritual support, crisis intervention, guidance, and bereavement consolation to patients, families, and hospital staff, with specialized focus and daily care for the Burn/Trauma Intensive Care Unit, Burn/Trauma Step-down Unit, Neuromedicine Intensive Care Unit, Trauma/General Surgery and Colorectal Unit, and the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit. Additionally, I provided on-call and 24-hour chaplaincy services for the entire hospital, on a rotational basis, with a predominant focus on palliative care, surgical progressive and intensive care, emergency psychiatric care, emergency obstetrical care, emergency trauma, and critical care.”

Illness and injury, fear and anxiety, uncertainty and hopelessness, and shock can change the quality of life, for an entire family, in a matter of moments. When healthcare systems operate in alignment with high standards of excellence, and adherence to core values, communities have a greater ability to heal; health and wellness can be maximized, and end-of-life realities can be met with unparalleled support.”

 

Q: What’s the most rewarding part of the role you have in patient care? What’s the most challenging?

Dr. JaCon: “It’s incredibly rewarding when trust is established; when patients and clients, who experience severe illness, debilitating pain, sadness, fear, anger, and frustration welcome me into their lives, share their stories with me, and allow me to offer varying levels of care and support. It’s also rewarding to team with fellow healthcare professionals who also have caring hearts and brilliant minds; individuals who are also determined to serve our community to the best of their ability.

The most challenging aspect of patient care is accepting that there’s far more outside of my control than within my control. My best efforts might not always yield desired outcomes. Even still, there’s at least a degree of comfort in knowing I give my best in partnership with each patient, client, family, and colleague.

This new initiative comes with its challenges; that's to be expected. Resistance, conflict, and challenges often give way to greater outcomes when they are approached strategically and skillfully. We’ve signed up to lean in and offer something meaningful and valuable where there is illness, pain, conflict, chaos, uncertainty, skepticism, fear, and the like. We thrive amid challenges because we genuinely love the work we do within the healthcare system, and the ICARE values were a part of us before we reached this place.”

 

Q: Tell us about your time away from work. How do you spend your free time? Do you have any hobbies?

Dr. JaCon: “I love international travel. I served as a delegate for a global peace summit in Kenya, and I’ve had enlightening, meaningful, and enriching experiences traveling throughout parts of Spain, Italy, West Indies, Canada, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, England, and France. I’m a former ballerina and I delight in holistic health, fitness, and wellness. I’m passionate about life-coaching, Christian service, familial bonds, social justice, human rights, advocacy, world peace, love, and children. My greatest joys are sharing quality time with family, friends, and children. I also love serving communities within the USA and abroad, reading, laughing a lot, spending time in nature, and practicing gratitude.”

 More About the Integrated Medical Family Systems Consultant Position the University of Rochester Medical Center Health Equity Program

This position is funded by the University of Rochester Medical Center Health Equity Program Support Office with the goals of improving the overall SCD patient experience, training and supporting inpatient and outpatient teams using a trauma-informed biopsychosocial systems framework and improving transitions of care at discharge from the hospital back to the outpatient care team. Outcome measures will include reducing length of stay and readmissions for this patient population as well as creating a biopsychosocial framework of care that supports our hospital teams and our SCD patient population.

10/19/2023

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