Society for Participatory Medicine
e-patients.net blog
understanding statistics
policy issues, research issues, shared decision making, understanding statistics, Why PM
The Decline Effect: Is there something wrong with the scientific method? (New Yorker)
A recurring them on this blog is the need for empowered, engaged patients to understand what they read about science. It’s true when researching treatments for one’s condition, it’s true when considering government policy proposals, it’s true when reading advice based on statistics. If you take any journal article at face value, you may get [...]
Read Moreshared decision making, understanding statistics, Why PM
“The Difficult Science”: series by Kent Bottles
Kent Bottles MD is one of the best healthcare thinkers I’ve met. Yesterday he completed a two-part tour de force on The Health Care blog titled “The Difficult Science.” Here are part 1 and part 2. This is about “how do we know what we think we know – and what the heck can we do [...]
Read Moree-pts resources, practice variation, shared decision making, understanding statistics, Why PM
“Practice variation”: an essential e-patient awareness topic
This is the first of the follow-up posts I hope to write from participating last week in the Salzburg Global Seminar titled “The Greatest Untapped Resource in Healthcare? Informing and Involving Patients in Decisions about Their Medical Care.” One of our purposes on this site is to help people develop e-patient skills, so they can [...]
Read Moree-pts resources, policy issues, pt/doc co-care, research issues, trends & principles, understanding statistics, Why PM
Salzburg Global Seminar, December 2010: Informing and Involving Patients in Medical Decision Making
All, if you have a story where you were affected by being involved (or not) in a medical decision, please see my request at “Help Me Represent You” below. Same if you have points you want me to bring to this seminar’s attention. I feel extremely fortunate to be attending a five-day Salzburg Global Seminar, [...]
Read Moregeneral, policy issues, reforming hc, research issues, understanding statistics
Fixing Those Damn Lies
A new commentary on “Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science,” in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly. [See also our previous post on the article, with dozens of comments, some of them excellent. And be sure to read Peter's footnotes. -e-Patient Dave] ____________ One of the best reads now being tweeted through the blogosphere [...]
Read Moreresearch issues, understanding statistics
Atlantic: Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science
There’s an extraordinary new article in The Atlantic, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science.” It echos the excellent article in our Journal of Participatory Medicine (JoPM) one year ago this week, by Richard W. Smith, 25 year editor of the British Medical Journal: In Search Of an Optimal Peer Review System. JoPM, Oct 21, 2009: [...]
Read Morepositive patterns, pt/doc co-care, reforming hc, research issues, understanding statistics, Why PM
Must-hear: four Journal of Participatory Medicine contributors discuss how we know what we know
Last night I got word of an unexpected treat: an hour-long conversation between some real experts about participatory medicine. It’s on Andrew Schorr’s Patient Power site – he and his team are powerhouses as well, and they produced a special hour-long audio program. I encourage you to start playing it like a radio program, as [...]
Read Moregeneral, understanding statistics, Why PM
“You’re 100% alive or 100% dead at any given moment”
A recurring training topic on this blog, originally for e-patients but also for clinicians and policy people, is understanding statistics. (See posts in that category.) Not only are statistics often misinterpreted; even when they’re correctly understood, patients too often interpret a slim chance as no chance. During my illness I heard from a long-ago co-worker. [...]
Read Morehc's problem list, pt/doc co-care, research issues, understanding statistics, Why PM
e-Patients and doctors both, wise up. If you haven’t already.
I’ve only been studying healthcare for two years – far less than most people on this blog – and I hesitate to be overly assertive. But I have, finally, reached the point where I feel confident in citing cases where people are simply being unscientific: ignoring evidence. That’s always hazardous, and it becomes insidious when [...]
Read Morepatient networks, understanding statistics
Chronic Disease in Data and Narrative
For the past 5 months I have been immersed in data and narrative about chronic disease. The result, “Chronic Disease and the Internet,” is a report sponsored by the Pew Internet Project and the California HealthCare Foundation. We find that living with a heart condition, lung condition, high blood pressure, diabetes, and/or cancer has an [...]
Read More
