ARE YOU AN EMPOWERED PATIENT???

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.

Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows in a warrior’s hand

Psalm 127: 3 & 4

"HOPE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE"

The empowered patient, in my opinion, is one who does not depend on their doctor alone to make the decisions and give all the information regarding their treatment. They do their own research (even though many doctors do not like this) and they take part as much as possible in the direction that they want their treatment to go.

I have been meeting a lot of empowered patients online, since I have been blogging. On the subject matter that I blog about (infertility), there are a lot of people sharing information about their infertility challenge and I find that this helps many who are dealing with the same condition, as it broadens the light that they currently view their condition in, and allows them to make more informed and practical decisions, as it relates to their treatment. This does not only help others medically, but it offers a bond, because, even though people may be complete strangers, there is some amount of familarity, as people know right away that they are not alone in their struggles.

I was not an empowered patient when I was struggling with infertility, or it would not have taken me over a decade, to triumph over this condition. This I believe is largely due to the fact that I was not internet savvy at the time and did not know that a whole new world of information and support was waiting for me, by way of the internet. I was just content with following my doctors lead and relied only on information he gave me. Later in my struggles, however, when I saw that my age was also becoming an infertility factor, I made some adjustments to how I was dealing with my treatment process, and that was when everything changed for me, as I then was forced to take on the role of the empowered patient.

Please find below a link for a presentation from a survey done by Chris Schroeder, CEO Health Central and James Burroughs, Associate Professor of Commerce, University of Virginia, April 8, 2010, DTC Conference, Washington D.C., on their findings about the empowered patient.

This presentation is geared at persons dealing chronic conditions like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, but I do believe, by extension, it can be applied to every patient dealing with a condition over a prolonged period of time.

http://www.healthcentral.com/about/the-empowered-patient/

From the presentation:-

“Making treatment choices and selecting health care providers are high stakes decisions for people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Finding the right doctor who can in turn find the right therapeutic regimen often makes the difference between a high quality of life and a low one for these patients.


Some of these people who are faced with ongoing treatment decisions take a more active role in their health care plan, while others are more comfortable following a doctor’s lead.”

Here’s to you, the empowered patient.