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:
Hej!
Häftigt Sara!
Patient centerad vård!
Vilken bra illustration!
Som allmänläkare med mål att hjälpa diabetiker m.fl. med långvariga problem att ta kontrollen själv.
Tack för den!
Hej Mats,
Kul att du gillar bilden!
I love this illustration.
How many blue dots are there?
Thanks Hugo!
There are 8,765 blue dots 🙂
Hej Sara,
Så himla bra illustration! Tack för nedladdning.
Hej Annica,
Roligt att du gillar den!
Vilken härlig känsla att du som central budbärare vänder dig ut mot världen på flera hemspråk.
Jag bugar mig, hälsar Anna H
Hi Sara,
Seeing your graphic for 1 VS 8,765 was a real light-bulb moment for me to understand that patients are on their own most of the time. I would like to you the image at a conference next week so can I get your permission to do so and if it’s OK, could you send a larger file of the image so I can blow it up for a banner.
Many thanks,
Shaun
Sure Shaun,
Email me at contact@riggare.se and tell me what size you need!
Sara
Sara, thank you so much for sharing this with the world! I first saw this in December 2015, at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement forum in Orlando, Florida. I’m a healthcare professional, and this has had such a lasting impact on how I view the importance of engaging patients in their own care. After all, our patients are the ones doing most of the work. I’ve shared this at both at work and with my grad school classmates (Mtg of Health Informatics & Analytics). Thank you for the inspiration!
I’m so glad you like it! Thank you so much for letting me know!
Thank you so much for letting me know, I’m very glad you find it useful!