Archive for October, 2009
Too Positive to be a Patient Advocate?
October 30th, 2009 | 
Author: Are you “too happy” to be a patient advocate? Is your “positive attitude” a detriment to the very people you long to help? As a chiropractor who finds joy and laughter a powerful healing elixir in my chiropractic clinic, my answer would be “Of course you’re not. You’re perfect for the position!” But, according to best-selling author, Barbara Ehrenreich, in her new book “Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America,” there’s just too much “positive thinking” out there, especially when it comes to a patient’s health. Wow! What a concept!
In a recent interview Ms. Ehrenreich said, “There’s a lot of suffering out there. And the message is always just, ‘Swallow it, suck it up and put on a smiley face and do not descent, complain, protest or whatever.’” But, if you’re a patient advocate, you know that that is not the message at all. Patients need to complain and protest when something is not going well. In fact, a study was done that revealed that it is the “Type A” personality who usually ends up leaving the hospital earlier and in better shape than those amiable types, otherwise known as “Type B” personalities. But, that doesn’t mean that “anger” heals (in fact, the opposite is true, as Ms. Ehrenreich will be the first to tell you), but it does means that patients need to speak up for themselves and when they cannot, for whatever reason, they need a patient advocate who will. But, they also need an advocate who believes that they will “pull through,” and one that does his or her job with a smile and, yes, with a positive attitude!
US Bone and Joint Decade Global Network Conference
Most people have not heard of the Bone and Joint Decade, but it’s an important and valuable organization sanctioned by the United Nations/World Health Organization that deserves more recognition. As a chiropractor, I have been aware of it for several years now. It is an international collaborative movement whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with musculoskeletal conditions and to advance the understanding, prevention and treatment of these conditions. The organization if open to a variety of traditional and alternative methods of prevention and treatment, including chiropractic, and is highly supportive of the role of the patient advocate. In that regard, the United States Bone and Joint Decade (USBJD) begins its exceptional program for its 2009 Global Network Conference to be held in Washington, D.C., starting today through Saturday, October 21-24. The conference will bring together the official Bone and Joint Decade National Action Network (NAN) representatives from 56 countries, members of the administration, government policymakers, health care providers, patients, and patient advocates for a two-day Patient Advocacy Meeting and a two-day Global Network Conference. Featured program participants include Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Congressmen Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Dave Camp (R-Mich.), and Charlie Melancon (D-La.), and Colin Carrie, Parliamentary Secretary for Health of Canada.
The Global Network Conference is an education and strategic planning meeting intended to highlight the significant burden of disease posed by musculoskeletal conditions and why raising awareness and engaging in advocacy are important means of advancing prevention and treatment. On October 22, there will be a focus on raising awareness of musculoskeletal conditions on Capitol Hill for U.S. delegates, patients, and the leadership of USBJD participating organizations.
Among our successes, The United States Bone and Joint Decade includes among its successes the development of programs around osteoporosis and arthritis that have been presented to more than 200 audiences, as well as a grant mentoring program that has seen their graduates receive more than $20 million in research funding.
For more information, visit www.usbjd
Posted in patient advocacy | 
Tags: arthritis, musculoskeletal conditions, osteoporosis, US Bone and Joint Decade | 
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Patient Power Through Patient Advocates
Did you know that nurses have acted as patient advocates for over one hundred years? You did if you’ve ever been hospitalized. Nurses are like angels without the wings (though I’ve suspected that a few nurses I’ve met over the years probably had them tucked modestly under their uniforms.) As a chiropractor I often send my patients to the local hospital for x-rays, blood work, and other tests when necessary and the nurses are always helpful, thorough, efficient, and friendly. But, it isn’t until a person is hospitalized, i.e., confined to a hospital bed, confronted with the often perfunctory, cool attitudes of doctors, and often feeling confused, frightened, and alone, that a nurse seems most like an angel. But, nurses have lot of other duties to perform as well, and so I’ve always appreciated the presence of a Patient Advocate whose primary focus was not only helping a patient “get through” the ordeal, but to answer the many questions that patients often have about medical procedures and medications, and medical records and insurance forms.
A structured, expanded, independent form of Patient Advocacy has been taking root for decades now, with programs all over the country that offer professional certification and degrees in Healthcare Advocacy. Today, Patient Advocacy is a fast-growing, and much needed profession, especially with the many changes in health care that are happening now and will, no doubt, be occurring in the future.
That’s why I was happy to read that Hiring A Patient Advocate has started the First National Registry of Patient Advocates and Patients. It’s a wonderful idea whose time has come! Patients are never more powerful than when that have a Patient Advocate by their side!
To find out more about what a Patient Advocate does, go to http://hiringapatientadvocate.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-can-patient-advocate-do.htm, or if you’d like to be part of the registry, click on http://hiringapatientadvocate.com/
Posted in patient advocate |
Tags: Hiring a Patient Advocate, nurses, patient advocate |
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Becoming Aware of "Awareness"
Have you heard the term, “anesthesia awareness”? If so, do you know what it means? I thought that I did, but today I became more “enlightened.” Anesthesia awareness is a very real phenomenon of being left fully awake and aware, yet completely paralyzed, during general anesthesia surgery. As a chiropractor, naturally I’d heard the term before and assumed that it only occurred rarely. But, today I read that it happens to 100-200 people per day in the US alone! That is a shocking figure! The good news is that there is a dedicated patient advocate who, through the Anesthesia Awareness Campaign (a nonprofit patient advocacy organization), works with victims of anesthesia awareness, tries to consummate change in the anesthesia system, endeavors to make the public “aware of awareness,” and advocates for the use of brain activity monitors in every general anesthesia surgery.
For almost twelve years, Carol Weihrer has been working to educate medical professionals and the public, as well as conducting patient outreach and support. What inspired this kind of commitment? Anesthesia awareness happened to Carol Weihrer during a 5½-hour surgery to remove her eye. Immediately after her experience, Ms. Weihrer, working alone, found a mission in life to find ways to prevent and treat this “terror of all terrors.” The result was the founding of The Anesthesia Awareness Campaign.
For more information on anesthesia awareness, please visit www.anesthesiaawareness.com.
Posted in patient advocacy |
Tags: anesthesia awareness, Anesthesia Awareness Campaign, Carol Weihrer |
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A Patient Advocate Who Is a Genuine Saint
If you’ve never visited the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai, it’s an experience you won’t forget. I had a chiropractic practice on Oahu for nearly ten years before I visited the island. I can attest to its beauty. The Kalaupapa peninsula is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It’s surrounded by the ocean, of course, and the highest sea cliffs in the world. But its beauty is not what will stay in your mind and heart once you’ve been there. What you will take away is the story of Father Damien, one of the greatest “patient advocates” who ever lived.
In the 1880’s there was no treatment for Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy. People who had the disease were taken from their homes and exiled on the isolated peninsula of Kalaupapa, which was only accessible by boat. They were treated as outcasts until a Belgian priest, Father Damien, arrived to care for them. He eventually contracted the disease himself and died.
On Oct. 11th, he will be canonized as a saint, and some of the last remaining Kalaupapa residents are in Rome for the ceremony.
There have been several books written about Father Damien. But, a brief account of his life, along with photos, and more information on his canonization can be found at: voanews.com
Posted in patient advocacy |
Tags: Father Damien, Hansen's Disease, leprosy, sainthood |
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