As you may recall, June 6th was “What Matters to You?” day. Although these four words are simple in and of themselves, when a member of our Pts4Chg community introduced them to her homecare team, something special came about. See the results here. Way to go, Emma!
Category Archives: Article
Challenging Assumptions
Seniors are often seen as individuals who are slowing down physically and mentally and cognitively. However, as a bank manager recently discovered, assumptions can be misguided, inaccurate and downright wrong. Below is a portion of the letter that an 86-year old woman wrote the bank manager after a cheque she had written bounced.
“Dear Sir: I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, 3 nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it..
I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only 8 years.
You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, — when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become….”
Click here to continue reading.
Elephant in the Room?
If you only have time to read only one article today and/or watch one video, you may wish to make it this one. Thanks, Peter, for bringing this topic to our attention. As you correctly noted, it is “profoundly eye-opening, unsettling, yet so important.” This “elephant” is definitely worth talking about.
Make the List
Which cities in Canada have the best hospitals? This was a question explored in a recent edition of “University Magazine.” Click here to find out if your city made the list and what constitutes the “best hospitals.”
A Hospital Halloween
A Canadian hospital is helping make the hospital experience less spooky for parents of sick or premature newborns.
Yesterday, I was talking to some friends whose son is in the Alberta Children’s Hospital. According to J.W., they had spent over $60.00 for a Halloween costume for their two-year-old son, M.W. Unfortunately, due to a medical issue that arose on October 29th, the costume had not been worn and remains in its original bag.
Hearing this, I was reminded of an initiative that had been started by two nurses on a neonatal unit. The end result saw babies wearing handmade felt Halloween costumes at a hospital in Edmonton. Click here to read the story.
What? Listen to Patients?
The importance of the patient is becoming more recognized in the healthcare sector. However, in many instances, including the pharmaceutical area, the patient is seen as simply something to talk to or to talk about.
According to a recent blog post by Mike Rea, this stance is limited and limiting in terms of who patients are and what they have to offer. As he asks in his post.
But, instead of talking to patients, what if we started listening? Not just to what they ‘need’, but what else they want? There are so many incredible groups out there now – potent patient groups (MMRF, MDA, Savvy Patients and more), who want to talk to us, who want to share. But, start to listen, and there will be a hundred hands that go up to stop you doing that.
Click here to read the full article.
A Must Read
A definite "must read" and time well spent. "'I am mine': This is what Alzheimer's is like at 4" #alzheimers #healthcare #familypresence #patientexperience https://t.co/4Vedw0aPTC
— Patients 4 Change (@Pts4Chg) September 19, 2018
Could your medication be making you sicker?
If you are take any medication, whether it be doctor initiated prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs or herbal remedies, you are apt to be doing do so in hopes of getting a particular outcome (e.g., less pain, greater mobility, etc.) However, can the medication you are taking actually make you sicker? Unfortunately, the answer is “Yes.” Click here to find out more.
A Must Read
If you have not had the opportunity to read this Facebook post written by Corinne McDermott, you may wish to do so. It is definitely time well spent.
Sharing More Than the Same School
“‘I’m going to have teacher DNA in me….I’m going to have to be a teacher someday, and a good one.‘” These are the words of a 10-year old who will be receiving a kidney from a teacher at her school. To read more, click
here.
