Welcome  to  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. This  week  is  National  Patient  Safety  Awareness  Week. What  can  patients  and  their  families do  to  ensure  their  own  safety? We  asked  Sandra  Poof, a  health  policy  and  management professor  at  the  University  of  Minnesota. I  think  the  most  important  thing is  to  always  ask  questions, especially  if  you  see  something  that seems  out  of  the  ordinary. If  you're  someone  who  has  spent  a  lot of  time  with  your  loved  one, when  they're  in  the  hospital  and  you  see  something  that doesn't  look  like  it's  been  part  of  the  routine  before. Never  be  afraid  to  speak  up  and  ask  pot  off  says  that a  number  of  changes  have  been  taken recently  to  improve  patient  safety. One  is  in  the  area  of  hospital  design. How  are  they  designed  in  ways  that  try  and  get  rid of  as  much  possibility  for  errors  as  possible. Another  has  to  do  with  communication. And  we  are  now  working  with students  as  well  as  in  the  field  to  really apply  what  are  called  crew  resource management  techniques  that  have actually  been  used  in  the  airline  industry. Pot  off  adds  that  the  University  of  Minnesota  has  added several  interprofessional  courses for  students  in  medicine, nursing,  dentistry,  public  health, and  pharmacy  to  address those  communication  issues  and to  improve  team  health  care. With  another  public  health  moment,  I'm  John  Finnegan.