Editor’s note: In this encore post, Michael Millenson writes candidly about the influence of personal feelings about race, ethnicity and gender on communication. In medicine, disparities and miscommunication impact patient engagement, as shown in a recent study reported in The New York Times. Millenson is often ahead of the curve on important issues in healthcare. We appreciate […]
Your employer sends out an email saying they want to make sure you’re getting enough sleep and physical activity, are eating well and feeling creative and, finally, have a sense of “mindfulness.” So they’re providing a free app designed to facilitate finding your “anchoring purpose in life.” Sound like a nice perk? Now add in […]
Editor’s Note: This week, we reached into our archive to bring you this “Encore Performance” from Michael Millenson who speaks candidly about the assumptions we make about people “different from us” and their implications for meaningful patient engagement and activation. A few years ago, I was upgraded to First Class on a flight from […]
Imagine you have hypertension, an often-symptomless disease, and you’re receiving a daily text message reminding you to take your pills. How would you react? Now, imagine you’re getting the same kind of text message related to schizophrenia, a serious psychiatric disorder. Would your reaction be the same? When evaluating technologies for patient engagement, the “who” […]
Imagine patient-centered care explained as a kind of updated Norman Rockwell painting. What you’d get is a recent PBS documentary, “Rx: The Quiet Revolution,” which, yes, uses a famous Rockwell image of a kindly family physician (Doctor and Doll) to set the stage for what follows. Putting Patient-Centeredness into Practice The 90-minute film, available for […]
The process of engaging patients in making care safer should be seen through a Santa Claus lens. It can be naughty or nice, depending not on good intentions but on the specifics of the intervention. Seeking True Empowerment The key question is whether patients are being truly empowered or whether providers are passing the buck, […]
In the years since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) pronounced patient-centered care one of six core aims of a high-value system, its definition has broadened and become more prescriptive. The 2001 IOM report spoke loftily of “providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that patient […]