My dad was a survivor — of a heart attack in his 50s, kidney cancer in his 60s, and an initial diagnosis of melanoma in his 70s. Melanoma recurrence and complications of treatment are what finally got him. A lifelong runner, Dad kept meticulous notes about his mileage and heart rate on paper. He bought […]
cancer
Half of 18- to 22-year-olds seek peer health advice online
A 2018 national survey by Hopelab and Well Being Trust uncovered an astonishing finding: Fully half (51%) of 18- to 22-year-olds say they have tried to find people online with health concerns similar to their own. That is double the percentage of teens (14- to 17-year-olds) who reported doing this activity and it’s much higher […]
A good death
You might think, looking at the open tabs on my browser, that I’ve got death on my mind. And you would be right. My father passed away in December from melanoma. The end was about as peaceful as we could have hoped for, but it was still hard to watch. I spent most of what […]
How did you find your people?
The internet gives us access not only to information, but also to each other. That deceptively simple insight, gained from years of research, contains so much of the hope I have for the future of health and health care. When we get sick or receive a new diagnosis, we often feel alone, but we shouldn’t. […]
3 home health care hacks
I recently spent an afternoon with a dear relative who is being treated for cancer. Her medication regimen is so complicated that my mom, an experienced caregiver, visits her daily to help sort all the different pills into all the various boxes (and make sure they get swallowed). They showed off three health care hacks […]
A field guide to The Diagnosis Difference
The Pew Research Center released a report today on people living with chronic conditions: The Diagnosis Difference. Policy makers, patient advocates, entrepreneurs, investors, clinicians — all health care stakeholders — can use the data to map the current landscape. There are still barren patches, where people remain offline and cut off from the resources and […]
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