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.
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Comments are closed.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like