Beryl Benderly, writing for Kaiser Health News and NPR’s Shots blog, tackles an important topic: misconceptions from providers about disease. In this case, Benderly writes about sickle cell.
There’s a lesson to be learned in this story for providers. And, is often the case, it is one of participatory medicine.
Patients suffering recurrent episodes know what works for their pain, but some doctors and nurses take that knowledge a sign of addiction. Patients with sickle cell pain wait an average of 30 minutes longer for pain medication than people with other extremely painful conditions, such as kidney stones, Tanabe’s research shows.
Patients know what works for their pain. That’s pretty simple. The painful part, aside from the actual pain, is the stigma so many patients have to battle to get the treatment they know to be effective.
One has to imagine, in a world where providers embrace patients as part of the care planning team, trust also increases.
Source: NPR Shots: Fighting Misconceptions About Sickle Cell Disease In The ER