While patient engagement is essential to improving health outcomes, the lack of
ID: 424525 • Letter: W
Question
While patient engagement is essential to improving health outcomes, the lack of such engagement is a major contributor to preventable deaths. Many patients are unaware of their risk factors because they have not received recommended screening tests. For example, when a group of 4,000 people were screened for high cholesterol, a government study found, only 40% of those who had this condition were aware of it. Even among people who knew they had high cholesterol, only 14.5% were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, and just 6.8% had reduced their levels below the goal of 200 mg/dl.
What is your reaction to these findings? In your opinion, what are the main reasons for patients to remain in the dark or to disengage in their own healthcare?
Explanation / Answer
The following could be the reasons:
> Major reason could be unawareness. People would be unaware of good healthy habits, of the symptoms of diseases,etc. They are unaware of what measures to be taken once the disease is detected. They are also unaware of severity of a particular condition
> Another reason could be life style habits and unable to give up those habits once problem is detected. People might also have very little time to take care of themselves and might not understand the importance of spending some time on their health.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.