Asking Doctors to Clean Their Hands Made Easier

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "An estimated 722,000 healthcare-associated infections occur each year in U.S. hospitals, and about 75,000 patients with these infections die during their hospital stays."

Despite knowing the risks to their patients and themselves, physicians wash their hands less than half the time they should and even the most empowered patients can feel awkward about asking them to do so. The CDC is trying to change physician and patient behavior with a new campaign to promote hand hygiene in healthcare settings.


"Clean Hands Count" aims to:

• Improve healthcare provider adherence to CDC hand hygiene recommendations
• Address the myths and misconceptions about hand hygiene, e.g., many believe that alcohol-based sanitizers promote antibiotic resistance when they do not
• Empower patients to play a role in their care by asking or reminding healthcare providers to clean their hands. Suggestions include:
• "I didn't see you clean your hands before you came in, would you mind cleaning them again before you examine me."
• "I'm worried about germs spreading in the hospital. Will you please clean your hands once more before you start my treatment."

Information and materials for providers, patients and their loved ones, healthcare organizations, and the media are available at: http://www.cdc.gov/handhygiene/

What Is Your Health Confidence Rating?

Patients who are confident in their ability to manage their health problems take an active role in decision-making, have better health outcomes and healthcare experiences.

This type of "patient engagement has been rightfully likened to a blockbuster drug for successful management of chronic conditions and the reduction of health risks," say Drs. John Wasson and Eric J. Coleman in their recent article published in Family Practice Management.

If your rating in the above chart is low, you are not alone. Many of us lack the confidence we need to manage our health. Changing unhealthy behaviors—like not exercising, overeating, smoking, drinking too much and abusing drugs—can often seem especially difficult.

Dr. Wasson, who is an emeritus professor of community and family medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, and colleagues have developed a website HealthConfidence.org that helps break seemingly big problems into small doable actions. Based on 20 years of testing and refinement, the confidential, free and easy-to-use site offers assessments, personalized health plans, information and tools to help you find practical solutions to the problems that matter most to you.

Take a look and find out how small successes can build confidence and lead to better health.

The site is designed to support not replace your relationship with your physician. Depending on the nature of your health issues, you may want to use this resource in preparation for creating a personalized plan with your healthcare provider.

New App Offers Roadmap for Dealing With a Devastating Diagnosis

AfterShock provides concise information and resources to help newly diagnosed patients and their loved ones navigate the fear and confusion that often follow a serious diagnosis.

Jessie Gruman

The app is based on the book AfterShock by Jessie Gruman—Founder and President of the Center for Advancing Health—who was a tenacious advocate for patient engagement and empowerment. Her wisdom and passion informed by her own battle against five cancer diagnoses over a 40-year period. 

The recommendations in AfterShock are based in part on her experiences and on more than 200 interviews with patients, family members, nurses, doctors, and hospital administrators. Woven throughout the content are stories of people who like Ms. Gruman faced the challenges of their diagnoses and learned how to cope and take care of themselves. 

The app is a condensed version of the book. Sections include:

• Getting Through the Shock
• Learning About Your Diagnosis
• Learning About Treatment Options
• Telling Others
• Finding Good Doctors and Hospitals
• Getting a Second Opinion
• Making Your Appointments
• Finding a Little Relief

Ms. Gruman, who passed away in July, was remembered by many colleagues and friends as a "pioneer," "champion," and "hero" in helping people understand their role and responsibility in participating in their care. She leaves a rich legacy.

AfterShock is available for free downloading in Apple's App Store. It is currently compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The app is optimized for iPhone 5.

New Consumer Resource For Evaluating Mobile Health Apps

With thousands of health apps available, choosing wisely can be a challenge. A new guide called Mobile Health Apps 101 may help.
  
Published by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the easy-to-read guide offers advice on what to consider before downloading a health-related app, e.g.:

• Will it help you achieve your goals?
• Does it have privacy and security settings to protect your personal information?
• Can you share information with your healthcare provider?
• Can you delete information? Opt out?

You may also want to explore other AHIMA resources for seniors, parents, chronically ill, caregivers and physicians by clicking here.

How To Talk About End-of-Life Care

Anxiety, depression, conflict, guilt are common among those who have to make life-or-death decisions on behalf of a loved one—especially when the person's wishes are not known.

In a recent survey by the California HealthCare Foundation, 60% of people said that making sure their family is not burdened by tough decisions is "extremely important." And yet, 56% have not communicated their end-of-life wishes.

Ellen Goodman, co-founder of the Conversation Project, describes the goals of the initiative and why it is important to talk about your preferences.

The Conversation Project's free Starter Kit provides excellent tools and tips for helping you think through what is important to you and/or your loved ones. For example:

• What matters most to you at end of your life?
• Do you want to be involved in decisions about your care?
• Where do you want (or not want) to receive care?
• What kinds of aggressive treatments would you want (or not want)?
• When would it be okay to shift from life-sustaining care to comfort-focused care? 

The kit also offers suggestions for deciding who to talk with and how to start the conversation.

See previous post: http://healthsearchadvisor.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20Good%20Death

For additional resources on advanced care planning see http://www.cdc.gov/aging/pdf/acp-resources-public.pdf

Meddik Helps You Create Your Own Health Network

"Many of the issues that exist within healthcare can be solved simply by increasing communication channels." Tim Soo, Cofounder, Meddik

Meddik is a new site that gives you the opportunity to create—anonymously—a personal health network of people who share health challenges similar to yours. You can browse advice, questions, and stories while sharing as much or as little information as you choose.

You may be wondering how Meddik is different from sites like Patients Like Me, Cure Together and other condition-focused online forums.

The major difference is that Meddik is the first to combine user-submitted content with a design that tags a users' specified interests and then uses those tags to create networks of people with similar profiles. When users sign in, discussion threads, articles and resources generated by others in their network come up. Content is moderated by users—up-voting and down-voting determines rank and helps ensure accuracy and relevancy. 

More and more patients and caregivers are connecting online in order to supplement professional medical advice, according a recent study conducted by Pew Research Center. In "Peer-to-Peer Healthcare," a report based on the study, author Susannah Fox quotes a woman who is caring for her husband:

“We have found that we get helpful info from both doctors and other patients/caregivers. Other patients/caregivers are almost more helpful when it comes to this disease because as a group they have more info than any one individual doctor has. We have gotten info from other patients/caregivers that we've then told the oncologist about so he could look into it. Sometimes we feel like we're educating our doctor more than he is educating us.”

The statement not only supports the value of peer-to-peer learning but also validates the potential of Meddik's mission "to tap into the power of the masses...ultimately accelerating the pace of innovation."

Meddik, which was launched in July of this year by cofounders Tim Soo and Benjamin Shyong, is in the early stages of development and actively recruiting users. Take a few minutes to explore the site and, if so inclined, drop a question, story, or pearl of wisdom and watch the ripple effects of people helping people.

References

Medical School vs Doing a Start-Up. Accessed at http://www.timsoo.com/2012/08/06/medical-school-vs-doing-a-start-up/

Meddik is using its recently-raised $750K in Seed funds to build a ‘health network’ based on whole health profiles. Accessed at http://startupbeat.com/2012/06/08/meddik-is-using-its-recently-raised-750k-in-seed-funds-to-build-a-health-network-based-on-whole-health-profiles/

Meddik's Bet: Peers beat search on health questions. Accessed at http://gigaom.com/2012/05/23/meddiks-bet-peers-beat-search-on-health-questions/

Peer-to-Peer Healthcare by Susannah Fox. Accessed at http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/P2PHealthcare.aspx

Health Literacy: Why It Matters, What You Can Do

Health literacy is an individual's ability to obtain, understand and act on information and services and make appropriate health decisions.

People of all ages, incomes, races, and education levels have trouble with basic health information. Often, this is because information is not presented in a way that is easily understood. As a result, people with limited health literacy are less likely to get preventive care or effectively manage their existing chronic illnesses. They also have a higher rate of emergency room visits and hospitalizations and generally have poorer health.

Learning about health is a lifelong process and it is never too late, or too early, to start. 

Here are several steps you can take right now to make sure you get the best care possible:

• Plan your visit to the doctor. Think about what is important for you to discuss, make a list and show it to your doctor at the start of the appointment
• Bring a list of all medications, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including vitamins and herbal products. Just because something is called "natural" doesn't mean it isn't harmful or can't interact with other drugs
• Share information that may be useful for the doctor to know and tell him your feelings and beliefs about your illness or condition
• When you talk with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, or have a medical test, ask:
• What is my main problem?
• What do I need to do?
• Why is it important for me to do this?
• What are the potential benefits and risks?

• If you don't understand, say "This is new to me, would you please tell me again." Or "Please slow down so I understand what I'm supposed to do."

• Bring a family member or friend with you to listen and take notes 

• Repeat the information in your own words to make sure you "got it"

• Schedule another appointment, if you feel you need more time

• Call the doctor to ask about test results. Do not assume that "no news is good news"
• Make sure your pharmacist also knows about all the drugs and supplements you are taking. Because he or she can help identify potential drug interactions, it is a good idea to get all your prescriptions filled at the same place

• Explore http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/ for more information about staying healthy, choosing quality care, understanding diseases & conditions, comparing medical treatments. Information is available in English and in Spanish