Many providers of care are beginning to take it upon themselves to consider the patient perspective. A recent movement to include Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) is a good example of this.
A patient once blamed me for causing him considerable anxiety because he had to wait several weeks before receiving the results of a lab test, which I had ordered. Many patients commonly have to wait days, if not weeks, before getting lab results from their doctor. The delay can affect patients’ health negatively.
Lisa Newman is urging patients and their families to take charge of their own health care. The co-author of Journeys in Cancerland with John-Peter Bradford, Newman, 67, is a psychiatric social worker who has spent much of her career working in hospitals.
ANDRE PICARD - It is essential that the health care system be transformed to put the needs of patients and their families ahead of those of providers, the new president of the Canadian Medical Association says.
In this article, PAC president Sholom Glouberman argues for greater patient representation and, “If you’re going to improve the patient experience, you have to look at things from the patient’s point of view."
This year, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Aging began a multi-stage strategic planning process that will enable it to define its priorities for the next five years (2013–18).
Although there is lots of talk about making measures of health system performance available to the public, the reality often falls short of the aspirations. Not only are these measures often difficult for public users to understand and access; evidence suggests that they have little impact.
Stephanie Findlay: In addition to the stalwart Manual of Clinical Oncology, medical students may soon see the comic book Cancer Vixen: A True Story on their required reading list.
Researchers at the University of Toronto are using graphic novels as a teaching tool to communicate the ethical and emotional complexities of illness, disease and trauma to medical students. Read the full article here.
Read the full article for PAC president Sholom Glouberman's comments on the issue.