Using “No Time to Tea...

Health care providers don’t have time to study 400 page treatises. They need a summary of all the research findings how to teach patients most effectively and efficiently, that presents practical ways to apply these findings in an evidence-based practice. No Time to Teach: The...

Could you follow the ad...

Second year medical students at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine got an interesting assignment: For five days eat a healthy diet spending only as much as a food stamp recipient would get, about $16.97. Yes, $16.97 for five days. About $1 per meal. If you were in this position,...

The Key to a Sustainabl...

Sustainability. We’re hearing a lot of buzz about sustainability these days. Sustainability can be defined as a system that can maintain itself with minimal use of resources. This can relate to health care on many levels, including: — Health promotion through primary prevention. —...

The future of patient e...

You’ve heard of robots performing surgeries and dispensing meds, but did you ever think they would take over your teaching?  Yes, robots are starting to fill in for us, from pre-op to discharge teaching. Pre-op teaching by robot Back in 2003 Healthbot.net developed a natural speaking...

After saving lives, pat...

After saving lives, the most important service of health care providers is patient and family education. Think about it. Patients come to us, wanting and needing our help.  We intervene, and save their lives.  But we won’t always be there to take care of them.  At some point,...

Helping patients unders...

The public uproar over the recent recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force seems to have taken them by surprise.  Apparently, in a Gallup Poll of 1,136 women, 76% of women say they disagree or strongly disagree with their recommendations. (Source:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-11-24-mammogram24ONLINE_ST_N.htm) So...

The online future of pa...

I really enjoyed researching the Future of Patient Education for a presentation I gave recently at a national conference.  I found most trends included technology, but some did not.  The best took advantage of adult learning theory: • Adults learn best in response to a perceived...

On Sharing Prescription...

Just yesterday I heard of someone who took his prescribed TAMIFLU until he felt better, then gave the rest to his wife. Did you know that 1 in 4 people report they have “bummed medicine rather than see a health-care provider” but 1 in 3 ended up seeking medical care anyway? Did...

Health care providers: ...

After saving lives, the most important service of health care providers is to teach patients and families to care for themselves. Most care is self-care. If they don’t know how to follow-up on our interventions, why and how to medicate, how to recognize problems and how to respond,...