Category Archives: Patient Engagement

Patient First?

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“Patient first” is a term that is often used in the health-care sector. However, are we first and foremost patients? Is that how we see ourselves?

According to Dr. Jordan Asher, he sees his patients differently. To him, he sees them as people first. “[I]n order for you to have a better health status, which includes healthcare, I need to think about you as a human being…We don’t look at people as diabetics; we look at them as people that have a bunch of life issues that happen to have diabetes.” How does this philosophy influence the manner in which Dr. Asher works with his patients? Click here to find out.

Into The Fishbowl

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Are you interested in patient/provider partnerships (e.g., What they are? How they can be created? What barriers exist that impede their development?) If so, you may wish to join the Patent 4 Change Fishbowl session, which is being offered as part of Alberta Health Services’ Patient & Family Centred Care Week. The session will be held via phone and Internet and is open to all. Click here to read more about the Fishbowl session. Don’t miss out on what promises to be a very engaging experience. Register here.

Call for Participants

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Are you a parent or caregiver of a child who has experienced an inner ear infection or other related ear problem? Would you like to help develop educational resources for parents and caregivers concerning this topic? If so, a research team at the University of Alberta are looking for you. Click on the image below for more information. 

Managing Chronic Conditions by Making Connections

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What do Livongo, MyHealthTeams, Health Decision Technology, Wellness Layer and Sensely have in common? In addition to them all having an online presence, they are also focusing on chronic disease management. Key to this management, or more specifically self-management, is to help people with chronic diseases, or loved ones with such conditions, connect with others – patients, coaches, etc. Through these connections, the hope is that the financial and physical burden being experienced will be reversed or in someway lessened.  Click here to discover more about these initiatives.

Tips for Patient Engagement

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alexanderrathsThe term “patient engagement” is one that is frequently stated and bantered about. However, what does it really mean? Why is such engagement important? How can patient engagement be fostered and promoted, so it becomes more than a theoretical idea or ideology and something that is real and realized?

According to Dr. Anhalt, an individual who treats pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes and chief medical officer for T1D Exchange, patient engagement is critical. Among other things, it sees patients becoming engaged in their own care, resulting in living healthier lives and experiencing better outcomes. Based on this understanding, Dr. Anhalt discusses tips for successful patient engagement. They include: educating patient and families, encouraging patients to engage in their health outside of a doctor’s office and using all patient interactions as opportunities for learning. To read the full article, click here.

Clinical Trials – To Participate or Not

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Clinical trials are becoming more popular and as such, the demand for participants is increasing. Unfortunately, oft times patients who are being asked to participate or are considering joining are unclear about the nature of the study and what their involvement would entail. This, in turn, makes deciding whether or not to get involved in the study more difficult.

To address this issue, The Center for Information & Study on Clinical Reseach Participation has a number of questions on its website that may be of assistance to individuals contemplating clinical trial involvement. Here are five of the questions they list.
1. What is the main purpose of this study?
2. Does the study involve a placebo or a treatment that is already on the market?
3. How will the treatment be given to me?
4. How long is the study going to last and what will I be asked to do as a participant?
5. What has been learned about the study treatment and are any study results published?

To reading the list, click here. What, if any, questions would you add to this list?

Our Presentation

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Jess and DebAs mentioned in the previous post, Pts4Chg was presenting today at the International Institute for Patient and Family Centred Care (IPFCC) conference in New York City. The presentation entitled, “Bridging the Disconnected: Empowering Advisors for Change Through Social Media,” was well attended and well received, both at the conference and in the Twittersphere. According to participants and presenters, the level of enthusiasm, energy and engagement was high.

Below are just a few of the tweets sent out during the session.

Thank you to everyone who attended the session in person or virtually. Special thanks go to Kirsten, Holly, Shannon and Jamie. Your efforts made live tweeting the event possible. Thanks so much.

You Are Invited…

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Pts4Chg is presenting at the International Institute for Patient and Family Centred Care (IPFCC) conference that is occurring from July 25-27th. As part of the presentation, a Twitter exchange will be taking place. Please consider joining us in the Twittersphere to converse with conference delegates, share ideas and have fun. IPFCC2016

Date: Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Time: 11:15 a.m. EST
Location: In the Twittersphere at ‪#‎Pts4ChgNYC

Helping Oneself and Others

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In an online post, Sheila, a member of the Pts4Chg community, raises an important topic. How does one obtain assistance for oneself or others when it comes to health care? How does one

tactfully get help for yourself or a loved one, or even possibly someone we don’t know who is in the hospital and we see that he/she is not getting the care that the Dr. prescribed, such as meds being missed or denied, patient not being fed, etc. Sadly, only those who have a loved one who comes to visit, will get these issues fixed, but I have seen (too many times) meals delivered to people without a loved one there to feed them, which were just picked up and taken away when the dietitians came back to collect trays, no one to feed those who are the most sick and alone or help them get the care the Dr. prescribed. In my local hospital, those with visitors get the most care because then there are ‘witnesses’ to what did or did not happen. The ones who are alone are in a dangerously negligent position.

Any comments and suggestions relating to this topic are welcome.

Poll: Social Media and Confidence

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