Patients and Advocates Take Note: Empathy and Relationship-Centered Care are a Two-Way Street

I am both a patient with multiple chronic conditions and a patient advocate.  What some members of my care team(s) often forget is that I also have a life outside of the little bubble in which they see me.  I have had 3 kidney transplants, been on dialysis twice (both hemo and peritoneal), and was recently diagnosed with either Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis.  (The docs do not seem to know yet which one.  Given my eastern European background, I believe it is Crohn’s.)  While I have two other chronic conditions, I will not discuss them in this newsletter. The concepts of relationship-centered care (RCC) and empathy in the world of healthcare are great ideas!  You do not need me to tell you that, but what you might find interesting is that I believe some  of my medical practitioners have followed these principles for my entire lifetime.  They may not have used the specific words, but they definitely showed a great deal of empathy.  I also need to make a brief distinction here – I am someone who has gone from the pediatric world to the world of adult care.  While I have felt and seen these principles observed as a pediatric, adolescent, and young adult, I often fail to see these principles observed as an adult patient. I receive great care from the University of Pennsylvania, Jefferson Health System, and New York Presbyterian.  However, there is little or no communication among the institutions (even though I know for a fact that two of them use the same electron...
Source: Society for Participatory Medicine - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Newsletter participatory medicine Patient Involvement Patient Participation relationship centered care SPM communications Source Type: news