NAVIGATOR STORY OF THE MONTH
More and more of the women we help share one thing: they are living with chronic pain - from existing disease, undiagnosed conditions, doctors who don't take their pain seriously, or suggest it is all in their head. Sadly, medical professionals generally do not understand pain or how to treat it.
If you are living with pain, please please call or write for a free consultation! We have successfully helped many clients find new options and better outcomes. |
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Volume 2 Issue 3
| April 2011 |
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Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Welcome to the April 2011 issue of "Patient Navigator Notes," a monthly newsletter to inform our readers about important health topics. We're very excited about the press coverage we received in March in MORE magazine and our local Vienna Connection. If you haven't taken a peek, we hope you will! Patient Navigator's mission is to bring health care and life care together through advocacy, education and a patient-centered approach to solving problems and overcoming obstacles in the health care system. Founder and President Patient Navigator, LLC Guiding your journey through illness .... |
A Special Request For Help From My Readers
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This month, I am making a personal request to my readers for your help and support. Last month, a family in Denver called with an urgent request for help: can we help their 49-year old brother Marty get access to more physical rehabilitation? Marty had suffered a catastrophic pontine brainstem stroke in April 2010 and ended up "Locked-In" his own body. He is completely paralyzed but can understand everything that he hears, sees, smells. Locked-In syndrome is rare and very few institutions know how to treat and rehabilitate these patients. Very few will even consider accepting a locked-in patient. I quickly learned what a nightmare the family has been living through. This was Marty's second stroke (he had recovered from the first one in 2008) and his sisters have been battling the insurance company every day since his stroke last year. Marty received 60 days of treatment at a facility that equipped him with technology, but did little physical therapy on his body. As we speak, Marty is still in an acute care hospital in Denver. His insurance wants to discharge him a long-term Medicaid nursing home. His family is fighting for a chance for Marty to receive more physical rehabilitation. The system is stacked against them at every turn. In the past few weeks, Marty has been making remarkable gains, even though he is receiving very little therapy in the hospital. He has been able to turn his head in all directions, wiggle some toes and fingers and begin to stick out his tongue. He can hold his head forward for over a minute. His shoulders are getting stronger. There is obvious potential for Marty to regain more function, but he needs a comprehensive and longer-term rehabilitation program. Tragically, the American insurance and hospital systems have no place for someone like Marty. Nursing homes don't want him; his insurance won't pay anymore to rehabilitate him. Their goal is to get him off the books and on to Medicaid. They think there is no hope. We have begun a fundraising campaign so that the family can self-pay for more physical rehabilitation. Our goal is for Marty to be given the chance to recover whatever function is possible. That won't happen if he is lying in a nursing home bed. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Lighthouse Community account we have set up for Marty Acierno. We finally found a rehabilitation hospital that is willing to take him, but for self-pay (even as a charity case) the family needs about $5,000 per week. He can stay there as long as we can pay for it and he shows some progress, which we know he will! I have never made a request like this before, so please, read Marty's story and consider helping if you can. If you have any fundraising ideas, we would welcome them! We have designed a flyer for this purpose. You can also visit his beautiful family through the Marty's Fund Facebook page. Thank you very much for reading this article and for your help. Elisabeth Russell Back to Top
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| Spotlight on Health Literacy | A recent Washington Post/Kaiser family foundation article offered an alarming look at many Americans' low level of health literacy, defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand
basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions."
The article cites a study released in 2006 study by the U.S. Department of Education that found that 36 percent of adults have only basic or below-basic skills for dealing with health material. This means that 90 million Americans can understand discharge instructions written only at a fifth-grade level or lower. About 52 percent had intermediate skills: they could figure out what time a medication should be taken if the label says "take two hours after eating."
The remaining 12 percent were deemed proficient because they could search a complex document and find the information necessary to define a medical term. Adults who were ages 65 and older had lower average health literacy than adults in younger age groups. Less educated and minority groups generally had lower levels of health literacy.
The Surgeon General of the United States has also tackled this subject. Because only 12% of Americans have proficient health literacy skills, the majority of adults may have difficulty completing routine health tasks like understanding discharge instructions or diabetes care. There is a strong, independent association between health literacy and health outcomes. These outcomes include emergency department use, hospitalization, self-reported physical health, and mortality.
Interventions to mitigate the effects of low literacy in patients with chronic
conditions have been shown to improve health outcomes. In some cases, the interventions appear to be more effective for low literacy users compared with higher literacy users. A fascinating January 2011 article in the New Yorker by Dr. Atul Gawande documents this point perfectly.
The Surgeon General concludes:
- First, public health professionals must provide clear, understandable, science-based health information to the American people. In the absence of clear communication and access to services, we cannot expect people to adopt the health behaviors we champion.
- Second, the promises of medical research, health information technology, and advances in health care delivery cannot be realized without also addressing health literacy.
- Third, we need to look at health literacy in the context of large systems - social, cultural, education and the public health system. Limited health literacy is not an individual deficit but a systematic problem that should be addressed by ensuring the health care and health information systems are aligned the needs of the public.
In an era when individuals are increasingly required to fend for themselves, health literacy is indeed a public policy issue. Patient navigators and advocates obviously fulfill a vital need here. Indeed, we here at Patient Navigator help to educate and empower our clients. But the problem is massive and the resources small; there is no easy answer.
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Food Science Part 6 - Beneficial Herbs and Spices
| In September 2010, we began our series focused on the science and research of nutrition to help you become more informed about food choices. For Part 1, click here. For Part 2, click here. For Part 3, click here. For Part 4, click here. For Part 5, click here.
Today we'll look at some of the most medicinal herbs and spices available. Flavoring the foods you already enjoy with these herbs will give you the benefit of the herbs themselves, and increase the likelihood of consuming healthy grains, legumes and vegetables along with them. Using herbs also diminishes the need for table salt, which we often overuse and which plays a big role in high blood pressure and circulatory problems. These herbs can be used alone or in combination. Tumeric, Cumin and Coriander make a delicious combination on meats and salads. Black pepper works to enhance Tumeric's properties, so always use them together. Garlic in combination with Tarragon, Basil, Parsley, Rosemary, Oregano and Thyme is a classic European favorite. Fresh and organic herbs have the greatest amount of beneficial nutrients and properties, and contain the least contaminating chemicals, so they are always the best choice. Go ahead and experiment with these flavorings on your favorite natural foods to improve your diet and your health. You can read more here about the specific beneficial qualities and the science behind these herbs and spices. They are easy to use in so many ways.
Guest "Food Science" Columnist Deborah Roney holds a degree in Biology and received her certification from the Food as Medicine program at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. in May 2010. |
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