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NHBPM Day Fifteen: Wish my Doctor would use social media!!

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Welcome to another post for the ‘National Health Blog Post Month’…. and today’s topic is whether healthcare professionals, such as Doctors should embrace social media.

As most of you are aware, I live in the United Kingdom and social media is not really used by healthcare professionals as of yet.  I believe they should – many brands and companies have already embraced the role of social media to engage consumers and to make them aware of products and special offers.  So why not healthcare professionals?

Many healthcare companies and charities associated with various conditions and disabilities have already started using social media to get the word out – to educate and inform existing followers whilst also attracting new followers/patients.  Social media can allow these healthcare companies and non-profits to connect and collaborate more effectively with each other and their communities.  It is a tool for change and awareness.

Already, some healthcare companies have started using technology – for example, certain pharmacies in the UK have started using text messaging services to let their patients know when their prescriptions are ready for collection – very useful for patients who may due to their condition, or side effects from medications may forget necessary details such as this.

I am aware, that a small number of healthcare professionals in the USA and other parts of the world have started using technology and social media to communicate with their patients, such as using email to converse with patients regarding health matters, using social networks such as Twitter to track disease trends.  However, these instances are not common amongst most doctors – many still prefer the old pen and paper approach to keep track of patients medical records, and when technology are used it is only to communicate with other doctors, or to update medical records, and not used to communicate with their patients.

However, I believe that social media will be an effective tool for doctors and other healthcare professionals as well as their patients.  Most appointments, whether it be at the local G.P’s office or at hospital appointments, are approximately 15 minutes long (some appointments can be even shorter than this!).  For most patients, this is not enough time to effectively discuss issues and problems associated with their particular health concern, particularly with the more unusual and complicated conditions.  In these circumstances, patients are often too aware of these short appointments, pressurised to be as quick as possible, that important details and questions may be forgotten about.  Be honest, how many times have you gone home from appointments only to remember and wished that you asked that certain question or thought “I really should have mentioned about that…”  And added to this, the long-waiting times to be able to get another appointment with the doctor – therefore, social media would be a great tool for both healthcare and professionals and their patients to converse between appointments and to get more immediate feedback when problems do arise, and before they become a real problem for the patient.

And what about those patients who may need to speak to a doctor but who may not have the ability to physically access their local doctor’s office?  Skype, could be the answer to the problem.  Recently, I read an article about this very issue – utilising Skype as a means to cut the large cost that missed appointments cost the NHS every year – you can read this article here.  As the article suggests, Skype may be a great tool when there is no reason that the patient will need a physical assessment; to be used when information and advice need to be given.

I know for me, there are often instances where I am confused or bewildered by medical stories entering the mainstream news – often stories may contradict earlier advice that has been given.  This is where Twitter can be useful – doctors will be able to tweet those articles and news stories which have more scientific merit than others, as well as providing useful context and meaning to these items.  Furthermore, the internet, although can be incredibly useful for finding information and support, the information however is not always inaccurate, so for doctors and leading healthcare professionals to remain the leading authority on medical matters, it would be useful if doctors used social media as a means to dispel myths and provide accurate health information to those who may use search engines to research reasons behind symptoms or looking for more information on health conditions.

And perhaps most importantly, social media can also provide the opportunity for doctors to listen to patients concerns and frustrations regarding healthcare and policies surrounding healthcare.  By listening to patient feedback, doctors can adequately adjust the way in which they practice medicine.

However, although social media would certainly improve the quality of our proceedings with healthcare professionals, it should also be wise to mention the disadvantages and pitfalls for using such technology.  The problems include:

  • Issues surrounding patient confidentiality – nothing is forgotten on the web, meaning that medical information on patients’ could be found with a few clicks on a search engine
  • If technology such as email or social media sites are used to converse between doctor and patient; then important medical information may be forgotten to be documented in the patients’ medical notes
  • Worries about potential legal lawsuits being pursued if wrong information is provided, etc
  • The possible blurring of boundaries between patients and doctors when using social media; would you want to ‘befriend’ you doctor on social media – them knowing what you get up to as well as embarrassing stories, etc?

These problems are certainly well-founded and may harm the doctor’s professional reputation as well as having the potential to harm patients.  I suppose we will have to weigh up the pros and cons of using such technology and any solutions that can be utilised to minimise these risks….

 

 

So, what are your thoughts on healthcare professionals using social media as a way of communicating with patients?  Are you for or against?  And why or why not?  As always would love to hear your views on the topic.

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NHBPM Day Fourteen: Anatomy Post – Affected by my Symptoms

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Welcome everybody; am writing this post on a quiet Sunday afternoon.  For today I have chosen a short prompt as this particular day I really am not feeling well.  I have chosen a prompt from an earlier date.  In the prompt entitled ‘Anatomy Post’ it was asked that we re-labelled an anatomy picture with new names or descriptions the body parts.  I have chosen to label the different parts of the body which are affected by the differing symptoms that are caused by my condition; some of them are invisible such as the dizziness and vertigo so I have used the body part in which these symptoms originate (i.e. the brain).

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NHBPM Day Nineteen: Flag for my Community!!

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Hello, everyone. Welcome to the 19th Day of WEGO Health’s ‘National Health Blog Post Month.’ Today I am going to keep things really short as for the past couple of days I have been suffering from constant, and quite bad double vision. As a result it makes it hard to do much at all, let alone to write a long blog post. So, I have chosen one of the bonus prompts; it asks to create a flag for our health community!

On my flag I have chosen a snowflake; the reason for this is that individuals with any kind of neurological condition are just like snowflakes, unique. Not two patients are the same – each exhibiting different symptoms, and are affected in different ways. Also, representing the fact that I am writing about a neurological condition, I have chosen an image of the brain!! And lastly, I have included a couple of butterflies – just because I love them, and I think they represent something positive – change, a beautiful thing evolving from something ugly and unsightly!!

What do you guys think??

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NHBPM Day Thirteen: Book Report! Tying it to my life!

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Welcome to another post for the ‘National Health Blog Post Month’!!  Today’s prompt asks us to write a book report and then how we can tie the book to our health or our life in general.

For anyone, who knows me, know only too well, I am a complete bookworm!!  I could happily spend hours and hours browsing the shelves of the local library or the book stores.   Books have that magical power to take us to different places, or during different times.  They can teach us about a whole range of topics; or get us discussing thought-provoking topical issues.  One of my favourite authors is Jodi Picoult; the author of around 19 books all of which are thought-provoking dramas examining topical issues, especially those with a moral or ethical dilemma attached to them.  What I love about these books is that they really make you think of not only the issue being examined, but also your own views of the subject, questioning even your own views – sometimes you may finish the book with a total different outlook than when you started!

And one of my favourite books of hers is the one that actually started my love of her writing; which is ‘The Pact’.

‘The Pact’ is a story of love and friendship; and examines whether parents can ever really know their children.  The book centres around the Hartes and Golds; neighbours for over eighteen years; in that time they have shared everything from a weekly get together over a Chinese to practically raising their children together.

After all the years of being the best of friends, then it comes to no surprise that two of their children; Chris and Emily also become great friends; that friendship eventually developing into love.  One night however, both families receive the same terrifying phone call – that both Chris and Emily have been involved in a shooting.  A shooting that claims the life of Emily due to a gunshot wound to the head, and Chris is also rushed to the hospital after a fall off a carousel.  The police find an unspent bullet in the gun that  belonged to Chris’s father – a bullet which Chris claims was intended for himself.  A suicide pact.

However, the police detective that is in charge of the investigation has doubts over the supposed suicide pact – instead believing that Chris murdered Emily after certain secrets cones to light…

And so Chris finds himself charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Emily and a courtroom drama ensues…

At the time I started reading this book, I was going through depression – I had no friends, no real life – if I wasn’t in school then I was stuck in the house with my parents; isolated and lonely, even when surrounded by other people.  Then there was the dizziness; at the time the dizziness began becoming worse; so bad in fact, that I was unable to go out without someone else with me; scared that I will fall. Endless trips to the doctors, and hospital appointments could not determine the cause, and so was again, told that the dizziness was essentially “all in my head.”

As you can imagine, this was not a happy time for me at all, and there were many times that I thought about ending my own life – I felt that everyone hated me, saw me a freak and felt that I was a burden on my parents and family.  This book changed all that however, like Emily Gold, I was an only child, and the reading the effects of her suicide on her parents in the book, made me think about my own parents and the effects that it would have on them if I did take my own life.  Reading about the devastating impact suicide can have on a family; the grief of losing an only child was heart-breaking to read, and made me think twice about doing so, as even if I died, there would be many people left who would have to deal with the consequences.

So, this boom, not only being a truly fantastic read, but it also kind of saved my life….

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NHBPM Day Twelve: Invisible Disabilities vs. Visible Disabilities

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Another day, and another blog post as part of the annual WEGO Health ‘National Health Blog Post Month’.  Again, I have decided to use one of the bonus prompts provided for today’s post.  The prompt that I have chosen really caught my eye; and even more so now, as before my condition deteriorated and started using mobility aids such as my trusted crutch, my condition was very much invisible – even when I am not using the stick, you would never realise that there was anything wrong by looking at me; some may say that I look perfectly healthy.  However, slowly and surely it has become more evident that I do have a disability – from using my crutch, to my unsteady gait.  And now, when I am out and about for long periods, I have the use of a wheelchair.  So now my condition/disability has gone from invisible to become a visible one.

 

 

Which got me thinking about the pros and cons of both invisible and visible conditions/disabilities.  If you were to become ill – which would you prefer a visible one or an invisible one?  Let’s discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of each…

For starters, in terms of invisible conditions, in my opinion you are much more in control regarding the disclosure of the condition to others, whether it be friends and acquaintances, or employers.  Some conditions can produce symptoms which may be embarrassing and hard to talk about; or perhaps the condition is difficult to explain; or the disability may have a huge stigma attached to it, such as fibromyalgia or major depression.  However, as these are invisible, then you are under no obligation to disclose such information to avoid such discrimination.

However, those with visible disabilities, obviously have no choice but to disclose the exact nature of their condition, as unlike with invisible disabilities, those which are visible are immediately obvious.  This then causes a lot of questions to be asked, and one of the cons of visible disability that people may immediately judge the individual’s abilities – which of course, may be completely inaccurate.  They be patronising and condescending towards the individual; treat them as they do not have a brain or a child that needs to be handled with kid gloves.  For instance, last week saw the first time I needed to use my wheelchair for an extended period of time, and found that in some shops they spoke to my personal assistant than myself, as if they thought that because I was in a wheelchair and obviously disabled than I didn’t have a brain and couldn’t speak for myself!

So, a major pro of invisible illnesses is that people treat you like everyone else – obviously as they have no idea that there is anything wrong.  There are no judgements made about the abilities of the individual.  The individual is seen for the person they are instead of the condition that they have.

However, on the other hand, life with an invisible disability is hard; if people in their life know about the condition, then it is often the case that those people are suspicious of the invisible disability or condition as they are no outward signs that there is anything wrong.  People often assume that as the person appears normal and healthy than there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong; that it must ‘be all in their head’.  Invisible disabilities and conditions are very often misunderstood and stigmatised; even doctors are often sceptical when patients exhibit symptoms such as stomach aches, dizziness; symptoms whose outward signs cannot be seen, and are subjective.  When I presented with dizziness, and no cause could be found (not that they really tried searching for answers) then they came to the conclusion that it was due to psychological factors such as anxiety and stress that was the cause.  These assumptions are often made by doctors whose patient has an invisible condition; and which often leaves them waiting a long time for a diagnosis.

That must be another pro for the visible disability side – it must be the case that visible disabilities are much easier to diagnose – as there is that outward sign that there is something wrong.  An advantage in that there are no suspicions that the person may be faking or exaggerating their symptoms.  Although, many places within the UK may disagree as there have been reports attacks against disabled people have increased, when I used the wheelchair however, I found that people were incredibly friendly towards me, and more willing to help, such as opening doors for me, shop assistant more willing to help me find what I needed from the store as well as helping my personal assistant to lift my wheelchair onto the pavement when there were no flat ramp.

I would love to know all of your thoughts – imagine you were to have a chronic health or disability – would you rather have one which was visible or one which was invisible?  And why?

Or are there any pros and cons that I may have missed? Let me know!

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