Two Inspiring Moms Day 7

At the heart of the experience of chronic disease, including caregivers as well as patients, there are more similarities than differences. Being included in care decisions, becoming engaged with the heath care system, worrying about clinical trials - all of these are areas where any of us might become involved in the future.

The blog I am featuring is by Erin Moore and is called 66roses. The link is to her blog post about MedicineX, which is also happening this week, and it made me think about powerlessness and hope. She mentions Paul Bataldon saying that hope is the primary motivator for co-production, and talks about Collaborative Chronic Care Networks (C3N) and helping others to find hope and move out of powerlessness. She's doing a workshop at MedX and this post is a great introduction.

A detail from Erin Moore's Walking Gallery jacket, showing the reason she is passionate about Cystic Fibrosis (65 Roses)

Among other great observations she has made in past posts: 

"Patients and caregivers are asked to give up time in their already full and complicated schedules to help out ...healthcare professionals. Meaningful engagement would be asking patients to be a part of the team, recognizing the value that they bring to the table, and showing them that you appreciate them through respect and compensation."

And this post, where Erin Moore and her 5 year old son talk about whether he will enter a research study, which led to her wondering about the idea of making the IRB (document that explains the research and the risks) information accessible to the children in studies. What a brilliant idea!

And that led me to think further about Dr Joyce Lee and her great Personal Design Experiment. This link goes to her slideshow showing the way she became convinced that design thinking would improve healthcare. We also can see the video her 6 year old son made to show his teachers how to use an epi-pen.

 Joyce Lee's son did his own illustrations

He has allergies that can lead to anaphylactic shock so his teachers need to know how to use it. After seeing his video I think we all get it.

You can find great bloggers in social media. Time spent online can have a great payback, and no sooner do you learn something new than you pass it on to others.

It was great through the week to read blog posts from so many bloggers I did not know, as well as old friends whose blogs I read often. Now that we've all met, I'd say let's follow Rick's example and try to comment more often. He's a Comment Star. Nothing makes bloggers happier than comments.