The selfcare infographic used in this post is available for download in different languages at the bottom of this page.
I see my neurologist twice a year, about half an hour every time. That’s one hour per year in healthcare for my Parkinson’s disease. During the same year I spend 8,765 hours in selfcare, applying my knowledge and experience together with what I get from my neurologist to manage a difficult condition as best I can. Only during the one hour per year (the red circle in the image to the left) am I in direct contact with neurological specialty care and its clinical practise and guidelines.
And it’s also during this one hour that my condition is evaluated by my neurologist and my treatment is prescribed. But it’s during the 8,765 hours of selfcare (the blue circles in the image, and yes, there are 8,765 blue circles, I am that nerdy 🙂 ) that the I put my treatment into action. I take 6 prescription drugs, 6 times a day, in 5 different combinations, with 6 different time intervals. Because let’s face it, my doctor doesn’t even know if I take my medications or not.
It is also during my 8,765 hours of selfcare that I can observe the effects of my treatment. And what if I could register my observations in a systematic way and bring to my next neurologists’ visit?
Guess what? I already am!
I am not saying I want more time in healthcare. I really don’t think I need more time with my neurologist. However, I am saying that healthcare needs to acknowledge the work we patients do in selfcare and also start working to make use of our observations for their own knowledge.
Just imagine what we could achieve if we start working together – as equals with different but complementary areas of expertise!
The selfcare infographic is available for downloading in different languages below. Download by clicking the image (opens in new tab), right-click on the image in the new tab to download.
English:
Svenska:
Spanish:
Italian:
German:
