Tag: patient engagement

The Gift of Patient Advocacy Wisdom

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This episode of the DiepCJourney Podcast recorded in December of 2024 is a discussion across continents with two women leaders I admire who engage in patient advocacy and the patient story. I invite you to listen to the podcast embedded in this blog. Together we produced the title, “The Gift of Patient Advocacy Wisdom.” What a gift for me to sit with these two amazing women, Marie Ennis O’Connor and Sue Robins. What Does Patient Advocacy Look Like? Patient advocacy at its very core is giving voice to patients, no matter what healthcare diagnosis or treatment they are facing. “Voice” can take the form of speaking engagements at conferences, writing blogs, consulting, nonprofit work, making policy changes, and much more. All forms of patient advocacy begin with a story. Patient advocacy is also demanding work. To be effective one must commit to this. It means long hours of navigating a Continue Reading →

Shared Decision Making

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Shared Decision Making ~ Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy March has been designated Shared Decision Making month, #SDMmonth, by a group I started following on social media, Informed Medical Decisions Foundation.  I participated recently in one of their online webinars on the topic.  I often tweet about shared decision making and in the practice of plastic surgery, and in particular breast reconstruction after mastectomy; I embrace the value of this practice. Two of the physicians that I have engaged with in the practice of shared decision making are my breast surgeon who performed my mastectomy and my micro-surgeon who performed my breast reconstruction.  They both embody the very definition of the phrase as defined here by the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. Shared decision making (SDM) is a collaborative process that allows patients and their providers to make health care decisions together, taking into account the best scientific evidence available, as well as Continue Reading →