Translator: Julie Michel Reviewer: Sarah El_Gayyar
Imagine yourself as a
top tennis player.
Of course, you have a great tennis coach.
You trust him, blindly,
and therefore, one day,
you decide to play with a blindfold on.
After all, your coach knows best,
and if you just make
every move he tells you to make,
you will win! Every game! Right?
No?
It doesn't make sense?
Then why is this exactly
what many people do
when they enter the hospital?
They blindly follow their doctor's advice,
and seem to stop thinking about
their own role in getting well again.
When I was twelve years old,
I had to go to the hospital
every other week, to get a drip.
And usually, a junior doctor would try
to put a needle in my vein, but would fail
again and again. It was dreadful.
Then, I was wishing for the day
it would all stop,
until I asked my doctors a question.
I asked them to do this:
The junior doctor would try only once.
If he failed, he would get the real doctor
who could always get the needle in
at the first try.
Guess what?
They did what I asked them to do!
That day, I had taken off my blindfold,
and discovered the power
to improve my own care.
For some years now, I've been
working with patients professionally,
and I've heard many stories
of other patients who stay active,
and work together with their doctor.
I call them "power patients"
and here's the thing...
Power patients get far better results.
They are more satisfied with their care,
experience fewer side effects,
and they get well faster.
Were you ever a patient?
Or had a close friend
or family member ill?
There are five basic steps
to become a power patient,
and get these same results.
Step 1:
Realize you and your doctor are equals.
Your doctor knows most about
some part of the human body,
and you know the most about....
you.
Therefore, you get optimal results
when you work together,
as a team.
Step 2:
Get the right diagnosis.
Otherwise, you are treated for a disease
you don't have.
Wrong diagnoses are mostly caused
by tunnel vision.
So please diagnose your doctor!
Keep asking questions to ensure
your doctor doesn't suffer from
tunnel vision.
Step 3:
Select the best treatment.
When your doctor suggests a treatment,
power patients want to learn
more about this treatment,
and they ask about the other options,
because there are always other options.
Step 4 is when the treatment takes place.
You apply your new
knowledge of the treatment,
and you are the extra pair of eyes
to the medical team
to help ensure everything goes right.
The fifth and final step
is when you're back home.
You follow your prescribed therapy
as a baseline,
and speak up when you think
something needs to be adjusted.
This may seem obvious,
but in the western world,
three out of every ten patients don't,
which leads to many unnecessary problems
including hospitalizations,
and even patients who die.
Don't be one of them.
Just follow these five steps,
and you will be a power patient.
Now, I have learned,
from my own experience as well,
that although the steps are simple,
they aren't always easy.
However, did you know
that in western health care,
one in ten hospitalized patients
get harmed.
For instance, they get an infection.
One in two hundred patients
are severely harmed.
They may literally go blind.
And, one in every two thousand patients
dies from a preventable error,
usually the result of an unfortunate
chain of events.
If you spot just one of these events,
you can break the chain,
and prevent a terrible outcome.
So please speak up, if you notice
even minor things going wrong.
And of course, there are people
who can help you.
Close friends and family members
can assist you in all of the steps,
and it's very wise to accept their help
and be even more powerful together!
When I was younger,
I was wishing for the day
my own care would improve.
Now, I'm wishing for the day
that there's enough power patients
to reach a tipping point,
when doctors will change the way
they treat all patients,
and hospitals will truly organize
all health care around the patient.
That day, there will be even greater
benefits for all parties involved.
So, in conclusion, this time
I would like to ask you a question.
I ask you to help create a world
with more power patients.
You will improve someone's
quality of life,
and you may even save a life.
(applause)
Just start
by taking off your blindfold.
(applause)