Designing for Better Health

March 3, 2010 · Filed Under positive patterns · 6 Comments

This is a banner week for people who think good design contributes to better health.

On Monday, DiabetesMine and the California HealthCare Foundation launched the 2010 DiabetesMine Design Challenge. Last year the contest garnered more than 150 entries and awarded a grand prize, a “most creative” prize, and a kids’ category prize. I can’t wait to see what people come up with this year — please help spread the word.

Today, Project HealthDesign announced the five winners of their two-year grant and mentorship program aimed at encouraging the use of observations of daily living (ODLs) into clinical practice. Read more

Tags: Better Health, california healthcare foundation, Center Stage, Clinical Experience, Clinical Settings, Cognitive Decline, Demonstration Projects, design, Design Challenge, diabetes, diabetesmine, Health Care Initiatives, National Advisory Committee, National Program Director, observations of daily living, ODLs, Patti Brennan, Pew Research Center, Premature Infants, Project HealthDesign, Real People, Rise To The Challenge, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Stress Levels, Strict Policies, Taking Center Stage

A Lifetime of Participatory Medicine Can Start With Maternity Care

September 30, 2009 · Filed Under Why PM, maternity, positive patterns, pt/doc co-care, trends & principles · 25 Comments

As promised yesterday, here is Amy Romano’s guest post for our series leading up to the Oct. 21 launch of the Journal of Participatory Medicine. Amy is a nurse-midwife and advocate for mother-friendly maternity care. An expert in research analysis, she manages the Science & Sensibility blog for Lamaze International. Follow her on Twitter: @MidwifeAmy.

If you’d like to propose a guest post topic, contact me. Amy’s post:

What if we could help a large population of highly motivated, influential health care consumers become empowered, engaged, equipped, and enabled? And what if they could develop these skills while they were healthy – before they face life threatening illnesses or need to manage chronic conditions? What if transforming the way these consumers participated in their care could reduce the burden of one of the most costly conditions in our health care system and improve the health of millions of people each year?

It’s all possible – if we make maternity care more participatory. Read more

Tags: Amy Romano, Better Health, Chronic Conditions, chronic disease, Cost Containment, Costly Conditions, Follower, Health Benefits, Health Care Consumers, Health Care System, High Blood Pressure, Hospital Charges, Individualized Care, Lamaze International, Launch, Life Threatening Illnesses, Maternity Care, Mood Disorders, Newborn Hospital, Nurse Midwife, Obstetric Practices, Practice Variation, Pregnancy And Birth, Pregnancy Childbirth, Public Health Impact, Quality Improvement

Keep an eye out for tomorrow morning’s post

September 29, 2009 · Filed Under Why PM, positive patterns, pt/doc co-care, trends & principles · 4 Comments

In our “Why Participatory Medicine” series, leading up to the October 21 launch of the Journal of Participatory Medicine, tomorrow’s guest post will be a special treat for me. It contains a breakthrough insight about participatory medicine, and it’s a perfect example of how social media is enabling a wildfire acceleration of the spread of ideas.

The author is Amy Romano @MidwifeAmy, a nurse-midwife and advocate for mother-friendly maternity care. An expert in research analysis, she manages the Science & Sensibility blog for Lamaze International. Read more

Tags: Acceleration, Advocate, Amp, Amy Romano, Better Health, blog, Breakthrough, Chains, Chronic Conditions, Constituency, Costly Conditions, Expert, Followers, Hats, Health Benefits, Health Care Consumers, Health Care System, Health Pregnancy, Insight, Lamaze International, Launch, Life Threatening Illnesses, Maternity Care, Medicine, Medicine Series, Moms, Nurse Midwife, Obstetric Practices, Patient Movement, Perfect Fit, Pregnancy And Birth, Public Health Impact, Quality Improvement, science, Tomorrow Morning, Whole Lot

Senator Ted Kennedy was an e-patient

August 27, 2009 · Filed Under key people, news & gossip, patient networks, trends & principles · 4 Comments

CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen makes a compelling case in her column today: How to get Kennedy-esque health care on your budget. Anyone with internet access can gather the information they need to make better health decisions, as e-Patient Dave and Karen Parles did, and refuse to take “no” for an answer, as Sen. Kennedy did.

Tags: Anyone With Internet Access, Better Health, Budget, Cnn, Elizabeth Cohen, Esque, health care, Health Decisions, Senator Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, white paper

Patient Power: Andrew Schorr

October 6, 2008 · Filed Under e-patient stories, others' e-patient stories · 6 Comments

Andrew Schorr’s recent comment also merits a separate post:

I am a 12-year leukemia survivor and very grateful to the ACOR community members who helped me numerous times along the way.

I have dedicated my life to creating community online and also, in a supplementary way, on radio. But my concept of community is a bit different. I believe it should not be seen as patients doing their own thing because doctors didn’t either listen to them or give them enough time – or lacked knowledge. I believe patients, caregivers AND specialists/researchers can easily be in ONE community together toward a common goal of better health for current patients AND future ones.

Tags: Andrew Schorr, Better Health, Bladder Cancer, Brain Tumor, Cnn, Common Goal, Generous Support, Health Care Professionals, Health Concerns, Lung Cancer, M D Anderson, Medical Centers, Myomectomy, Patient Comments, Patient Power, Renowned Experts, Team Approach, Trusera, Uterine Fibroids, Young Adults