Elliot Ferguson, KINGSTON - Canada's medical system needs to start listening to the people it exists to serve, said a Toronto-based philosopher. "Until now, everybody else has been speaking for the patients. The patient hasn't been at the table,"said Dr. Sholom Glouberman, co-founder of the Patients' Association of Canada, Monday night in Kingston.
"Our mission is to enhance the voice of the patients," he said. The Patients' Association was established to represent patients and share their experiences with medical professionals, researchers and policy makers.
Glouberman, the philosopher-in-residence at Toronto's Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, said change to come in the way patients interact with their doctors, the way patients receive hospital medical services and how policy incorporates the needs of patients. Glouberman said the biggest challenge to more patient input is changing a system that is still largely geared to treating acute medical conditions and infectious diseases, which are among the more expensive medical treatments.
Medical advances mean acute conditions are no longer as lethal as they used to be, but patients are now needing treatment for chronic conditions.
"Forty of 50 years ago, people didn't think about heart disease. They thought about heart attacks," he said. "In our system, in many ways, you are better off if you have an acute problem," said Diane Dawber, co-founder of Health Pursuits Reading and Study Group: MEND, a volunteer organization made up of patients with chronic illnesses.
The group, which hosted Glouberman's talk at the Isabel Turner Library, started about 15 years ago, has about 250 members. The Group's goal is to educate people about the roles exercise, nutrition and the environment play in their health. "You can just go in and say, 'fix me'," said Dawber, who suffers chronic back pain and sensitivity to petroleum-based products.
Dawber said the group has developed a curriculum for patients to educate themselves. Glouberman said groups such as this are important for promoting the role of the patient in the medical system. The Kingston group could serve as an example to other patients and the healthcare system in general. "This is a group that has engaged in a mutual support to improve their healthcare," Glouberman said. "I have a lot to learn from them," Glouberman said. "They shouldn't be meeting in a library. They should be meeting in a hospital."