Posts Tagged ‘health’
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!
Chiropractic is Good for Your Health; BPA-Based Polycarbonate Products are bad. The Good News Is, As a Patient and Consumer, You Always Have a Choice
I’m a Chicago chiropractor, and I believe in a holistic approach to health. Naturally, I believe in chiropractic care. I also believe that “you are what you eat,” and that exercise and a good night’s sleep are essential for good health. Most of the time, good health depends on what you put into your body to give it what it needs to function optimally. But, an essential component to being healthy also lies in what you “don’t do,” i.e., what you don’t put into your body, like avoiding fruits and vegetables that are sprayed with pesticides, and not drinking your spring water out of plastic bottles that contain BPA.
Just as patients are powerful when it comes to reforming health care, consumers are powerful when it comes to reforming product safety standards. Along those lines, I just read a really good article on Enviroblog: “BPA: Can consumer revolt trump K Street?” The blog post is all about Massachusetts’ strictly voluntary approach to reducing human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA). On Monday, August 3rd, the state Department of Public Health issued a warning to parents and caretakers to avoid BPA-based polycarbonate baby bottles and infant formula packaged in cans lined with epoxy resin, another material whose key component is BPA.
Apparently, the Massachusetts advisory lacks the force of laws enacted earlier this year by Minnesota and Connecticut legislators, who have banned BPA in baby bottles and other containers used by young children. But, health warnings can spur consumer resistance that can change the marketplace faster than laws and regulations.
There’s a lot more interesting (and inspiring) information contained in the blog. You can read it at www.enviroblog.org. But, the point to remember is that change, really, is up to you. As a patient and a consumer, you are powerful and you can make a difference.
The Empowered Patient: Making the Health Care System Navigable
Great article with tips for patients below. As a San Diego Chiropractor I feel it is important for patients to learn how to navigate the current healthcare system as it leaves much to be deisred. Good luck Ms. Boden and Dr. Hallisy.
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by Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
Adriana Boden was a healthy 33-year-old woman until one day in March 2007 when she felt like an explosion went off in her head. Although she went to her doctor immediately, it would take nearly a year of doctor visits, diagnoses of everything from migraine headaches to encephalitis, unnecessary drugs and treatments before a physician finally figured out what was wrong with her.
It was a relatively simple test – one that Boden, through her own research, suggested and was eventually ordered by a physician who listened to her – that led to her diagnosis of epilepsy.
Boden, a sales manager at Google Inc. in Mountain View, wants to take what she’s learned and use her technological know-how to help other patients better navigate the fragmented health care system.
Along with San Francisco dentist and author Julia Hallisy, she founded a nonprofit organization and Web site called the Empowered Healthcare Community, which will officially premiere at a conference in San Francisco on May 16.
Many Americans – even those with insurance and access to care – are frustrated by the U.S. health care delivery system.
Boden said there were many things she wished she had known at the onset of her illness that could have helped or shortened her search for a diagnosis and cure.
She formed the organization in part because most of the patient advocacy and networking groups she found were specific to certain diseases or didn’t offer her the kind of help she needed.
“I want to give people confidence and help them find the courage to help themselves,” she said.
Hallisy, the group’s co-founder, spent virtually her daughter’s entire life – from the time she was diagnosed with cancer at five months until her death in 2000 at age 10 – pursuing the treatment her daughter needed.
Hallisy last year published “The Empowered Patient” to give patients practical tips about their rights and safety issues.
“Our goal for the organization is to give patients an unprecedented level of information they don’t have access to,” she said.
Boden’s physician, Palo Alto internist Darren Phelan, said patients and doctors need to work together now more than ever due to the information age.
Doctors, he said, have a tendency to get stuck in the patterns they know.
“You can search on the Internet and find a study that will support or refute a lot of things,” he said.
The conference is open to the public and registration is $80.
Have a health advocate.
No news is not necessarily good news.
A second – or third or fourth – opinion is appropriate at any time during your treatment, not just in the early stages of diagnosis.
Be aware that federal law guarantees patients access to their medical records.
Always check your medications for drug interactions.
If you need surgery, find out information about your hospital at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services site at hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.
If you are having surgery, ask your hospital to use the World Health Organization surgical checklist.
Posted in patient advocacy | 
Tags: health, health care, patient advocacy, patient rights | 
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Health Care, Treating Patients, Feelings Can Get in The Way!
Post from Healthcare300.wordpress.com
As health care providers we are always taught to not let our emotions regarding any particular subject interfere with our ability to treat a patient. Easy enough concept perhaps, but actually following through with that thought is sometime difficult. What happens when a health care provider, a nurse or a doctor lets their feelings about a patient or patient’s actions drive their care decisions? Well, typically it plays out against the patient’s best interest.
Patients that present to local emergency departments that are suspected of drug seeking are often ignored by providers in hopes that they will become so frustrated with waiting that they will just leave the ER. Other times care will be purposely delayed for patients that are rude, “whiny”, or in some other way annoying. Providers will often minimize a patient’s level of pain and health and not offer analgesics even though they are told by the patient that they hurt. This is often seen when patients come in to an ER setting in a histrionic state.
Letting value judgments about patients or patient’s actions drive care decisions in most cases would be considered counterproductive. Health care providers must continually evaluate their own biases and look beyond the realm of their own perspectives and focus on treating the patient appropriately. Frequently the only way to combat this prejudice is to have a patient advocate. Family members are often advocating for their loved ones with health care providers. In several other instances nurses play a huge part in patient advocacy. The issue here is that providers are not always in tune with the needs of their patients. Call it being human, call it something else. The fact remains that whether or not providers have biases toward patients should be irrelevant when it comes to making care decisions.