November 30th, 2011 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Opinion
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I may not know how to tell the difference between an empowered patient, an engaged patient, or an activated patient. But I do know that the fastest way to disempower, disengage, and de-activate any patient is a trip to the doctor’s office or the hospital. A visit to an average primary care physician (or specialist) is to an empowered/activated/engaged patient what Kryptonite is to Superman. It will stop all but the strongest willed patients dead in their tracks.
We patients have been socialized that way. Think about your earliest memories of “going to the doctor.” For me, I remember my Mom taking me to the Pediatrician. Early on I learned by watching the interaction between my Mom and the doctor that they each had a role. The doctor’s role was that of expert – he spoke and my Mom listened. I was there just to have one or more extremities twisted and prodded. And oh the medicinal smell…
Things haven’t changed much in the 40 years since I was a kid sitting in Dr. Adam’s office. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
September 28th, 2011 by AndrewSchorr in Opinion
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As we often say at Patient Power, there is no one source for medical information. The same is true when it comes to support for patients. No one organization is THE place to go and has all the answers.
That may sound obvious. But just as it has taken a long time to dislodge the “Doctor as God” perception or “I’m the doctor and you’re not” put-down of “problem patients,” there have been some non-profit advocacy groups that have seen themselves as the “be all and end all” for conditions they cover. In both cases, the arrogant doctor and the “100,000 pound gorilla” organization, neither took what I call the “big tent” view. In their view, they were the tent and there was no room for anyone else. That’s never been our view and I wanted to tell you how we are celebrating our relationships with a multitude of partners, many of whom are becoming friends. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
July 29th, 2011 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Opinion
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Let me say first that I am a practicing primary care doctor who is very much focused on patient centered care. Though I cannot go back to being a patient who is unaware about what a doctor does, the terminology she uses, or what the importance of certain test results are, I can empathize with the overwhelming amounts of information, challenges, and stressors patients and families can have in navigating the healthcare system to get the right care. This is the reason I wrote my book.
However, over the past few months I’ve noticed a particularly disturbing trend. Patients are not consulting doctors for advice, but rather demanding testing for diagnoses which are not even remote possibilities. A little knowledge can be dangerous particularly in the context of little to no clinical experience. Where many patients are today are where medical students are at the end of their second year – lots of book knowledge but little to no real world experience.
More patients are becoming the day traders of the dot.com boom. Everyone has Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
June 10th, 2011 by DavedeBronkart in Opinion, Patient Interviews
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Ten days ago a post here mentioned the 14th ICSI / IHI Colloquium. I said the Society for Participatory Medicine was well represented, including:
- Jessie Gruman, four time cancer patient and founding co-editor of our journal, gave an important breakout session, about which I’ll be writing soon. (Jessie is founder and president of the excellent Center For Advancing Health.)
Jessie’s talk was so good it had me going nuts on Twitter – I couldn’t keep up with all the “tweet-worthy” things that came out of her mouth.
Well, I’ve just re-read her text, and it brought back why I went nuts. I was going to write about it, but I’m just going to post the full text.
For those who don’t know, last fall Jessie underwent surgery for her fourth cancer; she has some experience. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
April 30th, 2011 by DavedeBronkart in True Stories
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Two years ago we wrote “Let’s hear it for the ‘d-patients’” — doctors who become e-patients themselves. We said “D-patients prove that patient empowerment is anything but anti-doctor. Heck, sometimes it’s a doctor preservation movement.”
A new article in our Journal of Participatory Medicine provides a compelling example: A Physician’s Experience as a Cancer of the Neck Patient: The Importance of Patient Participation. The author, Itzhak Brook MD, makes our point:
I am telling my personal story in the hope that health care providers will realize the difficult challenges faced by a patient diagnosed with cancer and undergoing extensive surgeries. I am also discussing the importance of active participation of the patient and their family members in all phases of care.
JoPM co-editor Charlie Smith adds, in his introductory note: (emphasis added)
You may wonder why a physician’s account of his illness and the frustrations he experienced merit publication in this journal. But, if a doctor has this degree of anxiety, this much difficulty getting information about his care and this degree of struggle making good decisions, then patients can easily understand why they feel so overwhelmed and incapable, at times, of truly “participating” in their own care. What we are advocating for is difficult in the best of circumstances and requires all hands on deck for the task! Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at e-Patients.net*
We patients have been socialized that way. Think about your earliest memories of “going to the doctor.” For me, I remember my Mom taking me to the Pediatrician. Early on I learned by watching the interaction between my Mom and the doctor that they each had a role. The doctor’s role was that of expert – he spoke and my Mom listened. I was there just to have one or more extremities twisted and prodded. And oh the medicinal smell…
