by Eric Bersh | Apr 27, 2022
Curled up on her hospital gurney but unable to sleep, the middle-aged Latinx female trauma patient sighed, “I am tired of being tired.” Before daybreak, “Rosa” (not her real name) had arrived at work to open her New York restaurant but was interrupted by an intruder...
by Eric Bersh | Mar 16, 2022
My husband was on a tele-call as I walked past in the background quiet, as if a mouse. He got off his call and asked “So?” I exclaimed “It’s positive!” He could hardly believe it, I acted so calm. I had already intuitively had a sense—I was pregnant. We were ecstatic,...
by John Novack | Feb 3, 2022
Editor’s note: Annie Brewster, MD, founder of Health Story Collaborative, and a friend to the Society for Participatory Medicine, has just published “The Healing Power of Storytelling: Using Personal Narrative to Navigate Illness, Trauma, and Loss.” In this excerpt...
by Eric Bersh | Jan 11, 2022
As a leader in patient advocacy, I am often asked to speak on the topic of patient centricity and patient advocacy from the biotech/pharma perspective. What do we mean by patient centricity or when we say that patients are at the center of what we do or patients are...
by Salene MW Jones, PhD | Dec 20, 2021
When I was training to become a clinical psychologist, my supervisors gave me several pieces of great advice. One told me that the psychologist or therapist is the expert on mental health treatment and research but the patient or client is the expert on their own...
by John Novack | Dec 15, 2021
Pioneers of medical progress are lauded in published articles and by their professional peers. But it is often the patient advocates, particularly those who demanded better treatment, spearheaded clinical trial advances, and bravely took on institutions and standards...
by Daniel Halpren-Ruder, MD | Oct 25, 2021
We Have Failed The Society for Participatory Medicine was founded in 2009 to transform the culture of care. A few years later, a comprehensive history of the forces that resulted in the creation of the Society was presented here by Millenson: Spock, feminists, and...
by Geri Lynn Baumblatt | Oct 11, 2021
I have attended hundreds of conferences: patient experience, patient education, health tech, health literacy, shared decision making — and the best part has always been meeting other advocates, patients, and family caregivers. Too often, unfortunately, these...
by Sean Erreger | Oct 4, 2021
Navigating youth and their families through what is often a complex mental health system is a job that is frustrating but also an honor. As a licensed social worker, my compass through the journey is guided by a group of core values. The National Association of...
by Danny van Leeuwen | Oct 4, 2021
Innovation is not like switching on a lightbulb for the world. Rather it’s local iterative, persistent steps. Thoughts from the Patient Experience Symposium. Listen to the podcast here https://health-hats.com/pod144/ Proem As I left the Patient Experience...
by Tim Blevins | Aug 23, 2021
Having been in healthcare for over 30 years as a clinician and working for four health plans, I am fortunate enough to have had exposure to a very broad network of healthcare professionals and have a deep understanding of healthcare systems and structures. I have...
by Randy Houk | Aug 16, 2021
I am so honored and excited to introduce myself to you, SPM Blog readers, SPM members and friends, and to share with you a preview of coming attractions. By that I mean that since I’ve been the new Executive Director for SPM for a day and a half, my vision for what...
by Carlos Briceño | Jul 20, 2021
I don’t like having something wrong with my body. I don’t like feeling achy. I can’t stand fevers. I don’t like being sick. When I do get ill, I want whatever healthcare team I deal with to be full of empathy and quick to figure out what ails me. If that sounds a bit...
by Mohammed Mallouh | Jul 14, 2021
In 2013 the Institute of Medicine published a landmark 436 page consensus report, Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America. Its summary contains the characteristics of a continuously learning system: Note that the second...
by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. | Jul 2, 2021
The HIMSS21 Global Health Conference & Exhibition brings you the world-class education, cutting-edge products and solutions, and unique networking opportunities you need to solve your biggest health information and technology challenges — all at one time,...
by Lygeia Ricciardi | Jun 28, 2021
When my daughter Ada was an infant, a cardiologist told me that she needed open heart surgery, the sooner the better. Ada had been born with a small hole in her heart (a VSD), which, the doctor said, could stunt her growth and potentially cause heart failure or brain...
by Tamika Felder | Jun 16, 2021
Stories have the power to punch you in the gut. Of course I mean figuratively, but in many real ways, literally too. I literally feel pain–coupled with inspiration–when fellow cancer survivors share their experiences, struggles and fears. Stories have the...
by Danny Sands, MD | May 14, 2021
The pressures of healthcare payment has forced physicians to move patients through the office as quickly as possible, and that is robbing us of high-value services that we can provide, particularly to educate and engage in shared decision making with our patients. I...
by Danny Sands, MD | Mar 16, 2021
As you know over the past year we at SPM have been involved in rethinking our organization. How can we make it stronger? More sustainable? More impactful? And more meaningful to our members and corporate partners? As part of this we are restructuring the organization...
by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. | Jan 26, 2021
Have you heard? The Society for Participatory Medicine (SPM) is hiring an Executive Director. You can read more about the position here and how to apply. Please pass the job description along to your professional network as well as anyone you may know who may be...
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