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Modern Medicine and the Need for Health Literacy
- 2. The world today • Science and technology are now moving faster than ever • Medical advances are similarly ocurring at an incredible rate • Hot areas in the last few years: • Designer drugs • Genetic engineering • Oncology • Stem cell technology • Artificial organs/prosthetics • Implants/wearables • Human lifespans are growing
- 3. Another reality… • Aging populations around the world • Record numbers of chronically ill people • Diabetes • Hypertension • Cardiovascular disease • Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases • Cancer and HIV • Massive disparities in healthcare access and delivery • Poor health literacy
- 4. What is health literacy? • “the ability to obtain, read, understand and use healthcare information to make appropriate health decisions and follow instructions for treatment.” • Estimated half the population cannot understand basic healthcare information • Imagine if you were sick. Could you take care of yourself without knowing: • How a disease works • What the life-threatening symptoms are • What treatments are available • How to keep yourself as healthy as possible
- 5. The cost • American healthcare is extremely costly • Poor health literacy costs billions of dollars each year in unecessary visits, complications, etc. • Also, a human cost in unecessary suffering
- 6. The cost • Real world example: young patient with poor health literacy, multiple family members with breast cancer • No primary care provider • Was not being screened for cancer • Unaware of genetic testing • Unaware of preventative treatments for breast cancer • When she finally did see a doctor, she already had metastatic disease, estimated weeks/months to live • Her life could have been saved – this could have been prevented.
- 7. Our goal • To bring life-changing and potentially life-saving information to the world • Make science and medicine more understandable by the average person • A more well-educated public will be a healthier public
- 8. Why “Morning Sign Out”? • Sign Out – a healthcare term • Process by which patients are transitioned to the next professional or team taking care of them • You don’t want to give too much useless info • But you need enough info so critcal decisions can be made • Most major medical decisions and procedures happen during the day • Thus, morning sign out is often the launching point for the day
- 9. Why “Morning Sign Out”? • As a society, there is a divide between the world of science & medicine and the public • We aim to bridge that divide • As with a sign out, we turn science and medicine into something easily understandable for our readers • Humans can live longer, healthier, and more productive lives than ever, but they need the knowledge to do so
- 10. What do we do? • We are an online publication performs a medical, public health, and community service role • Admins, editors, techies, artists, and writers all collaborate together to simplify and present topics in medicine and science • Future expansions: • Podcasting • Video • Social networking • And other stealth projects
- 12. Why should I join? • Apply your knowledge and skills to the real world and work to improve the public’s literacy in science and medicine • Develop your interests in new areas of science and medicine that will play a key role in your future careers • Gain leadership skills through developing short- and long- term strategic projects
- 13. Why should I join? • Flexibility - all of our work is performed online, and our schedules give you lots of flexibility • Develop potential references and letters of recommendation • Gain exclusive access to pre-medical mentoring with Dr. Andrew Lee