Posted by Gary Schwitzer in Shared decision-making, Wisdom of the crowds
Patient advocate Trisha Torrey writes and talks a lot about “participatory medicine.” Today she writes:
“While many of us patients truly want to participate in our own care, we’re not finding a great deal of cooperation from the others who must participate – our providers.Some providers get it! In fact, some are very cooperative, offering knowledge, learning materials, assistance, discussion. They are the enlightened ones who realize that two heads — theirs and their patients (us!) will always be more effective than one.”
She has now posted an online poll asking readers:
Think of the specialist you see most frequently. Do you consider him/her to be participatory?
• Yes. My specialist and I decide every aspect of my care together.
• Partially. Sometimes we decide together, other times I just bow to his/her expertise.
• Barely. Once in awhile we discuss options.
• No. I can’t get this specialist to discuss options with me at all. It’s his/her way or the highway.
Treatment for advanced ovarian tumors may lengthen survival, but questions still remain, despite the story’s emphasis on “promising” and “new hope.”
As with the HealthDay story on this research that we reviewed, readers of this story get a good dose of caveats and cautions along with the suggestions that electrical brain stimulation might someday “have implications” for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
The readers of this story and the other one we reviewed by Reuters are likely to understand that electrical brain stimulation could have some memory effects, but it’s a long way from becoming a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
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