Children With Disabilities Or Serious Illness Are Moving Into Limelight To Be Advocates
With better care often extending lives, many children can speak out as they grow older. Also, a study explores how patients' observations about their health is frequently right.
The Wall Street Journal:
New Voices In Medical Advocacy Often Are Patients
In the world of advocacy for children with disabilities, life-threatening conditions and chronic disease, a new generation of advocates is emerging: the patients themselves. ... Advocacy has often been dominated by parents of children with the disorders. One of their greatest successes is that, through better daily care, funding, and advocacy, even in cases of lethal illness, the children generally are living longer, better lives. Some of those children now are at an age where they are forcing advocacy groups and their own parents to take their views into account, even when opinions diverge. (Dockser Marcus, 7/25)
Sacramento Bee:
Patient Observations About Their Own Health Are Usually Accurate
A new study out of Rice University finds that when patients make observations about their own health, they’re usually right. The study, published this week in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, gathered the results of a health questionnaire and then blood samples from 1,500 participants. They tested the blood samples for inflammation and the latent herpes virus, neither of which usually produce obvious symptoms. (Caiola, 7/25)
