Today I read Joe Colucci's blog about overuse of
unnecessary hysterectomies in rural areas of India. As he writes, patients empowerment is one of the methods for preventing unnecessary hysterectomies. This part of his writing was interesting to me:
"Patients in rural India have just as much right to make their own decisions as patients in rural Indiana--and fortunately, there are effective tools to help them make those decisions."
As a whole, for doing an informed decision making, patients need to know about the harms and benefits of any diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive interventions in a patient-friendly language. Also Decision Aids may help patients. Here is a useful website that includes a Decision Aid that help patients with breast cancer to make an informed decision making about ideal course of treatment following breast cancer surgery:
"Patients in rural India have just as much right to make their own decisions as patients in rural Indiana--and fortunately, there are effective tools to help them make those decisions."
As a whole, for doing an informed decision making, patients need to know about the harms and benefits of any diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive interventions in a patient-friendly language. Also Decision Aids may help patients. Here is a useful website that includes a Decision Aid that help patients with breast cancer to make an informed decision making about ideal course of treatment following breast cancer surgery:
Health workers may educate patients about the harms and benefits of any intervention by showing understandable figures. In rural areas health workers can train health volunteers. These volunteers may empower
patients for informed decision making. It is important that hysterectomy rates during the past three decades have dropped in USA from almost 56 per10,000 women to 33 per 10,000 as women learn their options. Nevertheless William Parker, UCLA School of Medicine clinical professor and author of "A Gynecologist's Second Opinion" says: "The rate has come down a little but not enough" :
http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/hysterectomy-rates-drop-as-women-learn-their-options-reproductive-health-taking-a-new-path-vv8cej6-187666501.html
http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/hysterectomy-rates-drop-as-women-learn-their-options-reproductive-health-taking-a-new-path-vv8cej6-187666501.html
2 comments:
We are discussing this topic on the email forum hifa2015.org
Women as young as 18 are being persuaded to have hysterectomy without indication, for greed of surgeon. People with little or n education, including basic healthcare knowledge, are most at risk of exploitation by unscrupulous doctors. Same for nephrectomy. We have demonstrated through legal analysis with New York Law School that governments are obliged under international human rights law to ensure citizens and health workers are fully informed on health. People also need to know they have a right to health, and a right to question doctors if they are unsure. Neil Pakenham-Walsh
Great post. In Ottawa there is a group compiling decision aids of a variety of topics, that can be accessed in here
http://decisionaid.ohri.ca/
Use of decision aids is a good way of promoting shared decision making and improve patient knowledge informed values-based choices.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21975733
Jordi Pardo Pardo
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