By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
Misinformation is a Patient Safety Issue
As the Executive Director for the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety, I oversee our blog. I have the responsibility on a weekly basis for writing and vetting articles submitted to us for publication.
Many people rely upon PPAHS for health information (our articles receive more than 10,000 views per month). As we are not a health news agency, we don’t specialize in discussing the latest breaking news – we leave that in the hands of others.
Rather, the PPAHS blog and website are filled with information and resources that may help improve patient safety and the quality of patient care. This information and resources are not “breaking news,” but rather a considered consolidation of best practices, clinical trial evidence, and experience. Understandably, then, the 10,000 plus website views that we receive each month are usually articles that were written months and even years ago. Hence, we must be extra diligent about citing misinformation.
Editor’s note: In this guest post, Anna Preston, a consultant with Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit organization, discusses how being a caregiver can be challenging and provides resources to help manage the stresses of being a caregiver.
By Anna Preston (Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit)
Working in the care sector can have its ups and downs, but caregivers may suffer from caregiver burnout. But, there’s no doubting that it is one of the most rewarding jobs you can ever do if you are the kind of person who is able to cope no matter what challenges and situations may arise.
Caring for someone in a professional capacity can be demanding as well as rewarding. This is especially the case if you are providing live-in care services. You’ll be expected to provide a range of care services depending on how much care the client needs. These can range from personal care and domestic support to accompanying them on outings and appointments and looking after the family pet if needed. This is why some caregivers, whether professional or family members, sometimes reach a point where they feel they can’t cope.
Editor’s note: In this guest post, Anna Preston, a consultant with Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit organization, discusses the needs of caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients and provides resources these caregivers can access to get the support they may need.
By Anna Preston (Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit)
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are more than 670,000 people in the UK [according to the CDC, 5.8 million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s disease] who are caring for people with dementia and these are mostly unpaid, caring for relatives or friends. And while this saves, at the last count in 2014, some £11 billion per annum, the emotional and physical toll on carers is largely unrecorded.
Many dementia patients are cared for through in home care services with professional care staff who receive professional support and training. However, some are dependent on family members or friends who can easily become overwhelmed by the onerous task of caring 24/7 for a person with dementia. There’s no doubt that caring for a dementia patient takes a huge amount of dedication, time and effort whether you’re a professional carer or not and the emotional burden can weigh heavy on you. That’s why you should do everything you can to obtain support and help from friends, family and professional colleagues.
Editor’s note: Lockdown and isolation measures necessary to battle the COVID pandemic have placed heavy restrictions on our activities. These measures are particularly hard on the most vulnerable people in society, mainly elderly people and those whose health problems meant they were required to take extra care by this “stay-at-home” message. In this article, Anna Preston discusses tips that caregivers can implement to make the lives of those they are caring for better and ease some of the pains of lockdown and isolation measures.
The series of lockdowns through the Covid-19 pandemic turned life for all of us upside down as heavy restrictions were placed on our movements. The ‘stay at home’ message was tough on many people but was undoubtedly tougher on the most vulnerable people in society, mainly elderly people and those whose health problems meant they were required to take extra care by shielding.
This presented a problem for care at home providers who have had to find new ways of keeping their patients’ minds and bodies active and entertained while they were unable to receive visitors. The challenge then was to find a series of online activities to enjoy for those with their own internet-enabled device as well as those who have to share.
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
COVID has Exposed Weaknesses in the US Healthcare System
Individualism is much prized in the United States.
Most Americans believe that they have the best healthcare system in the world. The title to an article published November 4, 2020, probably expresses this sentiment the best – “Pandemic Or Not, America Has The Best Health Care In The World.”
The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is pleased to release this lung function checklist to help you determine whether you should have a lung function test.
Editor’s note: In this guest post, Anna Preston, a consultant with Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit organization, discusses how we can help the elderly better understand the Internet.
By Anna Preston (Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit)
The internet and all its wonders hold no fear for the younger generation, but for older people, computers can be very hard to comprehend. Those who grew up in the analog world can find it difficult learning to use something which must seem like science fiction.
As frightening and confusing as new technology can be, any fears are far outweighed by the potential benefits and enjoyment which can be derived once you learn how to use it. Older people who may be feeling isolated from friends and family can find new worlds of communication opening up through Skype, facetime, TikTok or Facebook.
7 caregiving tips you need to know to take care of your loved one and yourself.
Caregiving Can Be Stressful
As the Caregiver Action Network (CAN) reminds us, “Being a caregiver is stressful. When you add in helping their loved ones with many of their day-to-day activities, it can become overwhelming. Most family caregivers need to assist their loved ones with activities of daily living (ADLs)—eating, bathing/showering, dressing, mobility, and using the toilet. For someone caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, assisting with these types of activities may be happening more often.”
By Brad Smith (technology expert, TurnOnVPN, a non-profit organization focusing on a free and unimpeded internet for all)
Introduction
During the COVID pandemic, many patients were stuck at home, left with no way to make their regular medical appointments. For this very reason, many doctors, therapists, and psychiatrists began emphasizing the importance of telehealth.
Image from Unsplash.com
According to JAMA Network Open, telehealth services saw a greater than 1000% increase last March—around the time the pandemic started.
With telehealth, patients could continue their regular appointments with little hindrance, medical resources on-site wouldn’t be so strained, and it would be easier than ever for doctors and patients to communicate with each other.
Dangers Facing Telehealth Patients
All that said, telehealth patients need to be careful when using telehealth services. Why? Cybercriminals have begun focusing on telehealth services in a couple of ways.
Note that these risks affect patients more so than medical practices. The reason being that, while medical practices are required to pay attention to cybersecurity and follow HIPAA Compliance, patients are often caught lacking in the cybersecurity department.
Data Breaches
Let’s start by talking about data breaches. If neither the patient nor the medical staff neglect proper cybersecurity, it becomes easy for a cybercriminal to breach both parties’ data.
For example, an unsecured call opens both the patient and staff up to a man-in-the-middle attack, a practice where a cybercriminal listens in on a call and intercepts the data transfer between both parties. Patients are especially vulnerable to this if they are not on a secure network.
Phishing Scams
If cybercriminals have learned one thing, it’s that phishing scams, unfortunately, work. The reason for this is that when it comes to serious topics like anything regarding a patient’s health, they will respond before they verify the source of the email.
Typically, phishing scams will ask for personal information or take the patient to an online form where they will fill out a form with tons of their personal information (their social security number, for example).
How Patients Can Secure Their Devices
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways that patients can secure their data while using telehealth services. Today, let’s go over three of the best ways to do so.
1. Encrypt Their Connection
To avoid data breaches (on the patient’s end) and man-in-the-middle attacks, it is recommended that all telehealth patients encrypt their connections. This means strengthening the security of their network and encrypting the data their device sends out during a telehealth visit.
Modern home networks often come with good encryption, so patients should mainly focus on encrypting their device’s data with a VPN, a Virtual Private Network. What a VPN does is actively encrypt the data your device sends out and anonymizes your presence on a network, making it a perfect solution for active data encryption.
2. Use Strong Passwords for Telehealth-Related Accounts
Many doctors use services like MyChart to make patient communication easier. Messages, test results, and notes: telehealth services like MyChart are useful for both patients and medical staff. And since private patient information is shared on these services, patients often need to create accounts and secure their accounts with a password.
That said, some patients probably don’t use as strong of a password as they should. If you use an online telehealth service, make sure that your password is strong enough that a cybercriminal can’t guess it.
3. Scan Their Device(s) for Malware
Patients need to routinely check their devices for malware. Since certain types of malware—spyware and keyloggers being major culprits—can often go undetected for extended periods of time, performing routine scans will help patients stay secure, especially during telehealth visits.
Conclusion
With a rise in telehealth comes a rise in cybercriminals targeting patients with scams and cyber-attacks. To stay safe, patients need to do the best they can to secure their devices, which means using strong passwords, scanning their devices for threats, and encrypting their data.
Brad Smith is a technology expert at TurnOnVPN, a non-profit promoting a safe and free internet for all. He writes about his dream for free internet and unravels the horror behind big techs
