You’re Invited! We hope you’ll join us for our next Empowered #patientchat as we discuss whole person care with special guest Kerri Sparling (@sixuntilme). Kerri was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1986, and now works to raise awareness for diabetes as a speaker and writer.  Her blog is SixUntilMe.com and she also sits on the board of Patient Revolution, a movement for careful and kind patient care.

Whole person care is defined as comprehensive coordinated care for the beneficiary resulting in better health outcomes. However, people and the healthcare system don’t always perceive patients as a collection of conditions. Health is personal and intertwined with people’s individual perceptions and mindsets, with the environments in which they live and work and the people with whom they interact.

Guiding our discussion will be the following topic questions…

Q1: What does “treating the whole person” mean to you, as a patient?

Q2: What is one NON-MEDICAL thing about your life that you think your clinician should know?

Q3: How can doctors engage patients in conversation that uncovers this information?

Q4: What is one thing your clinical is asking you to do that is not improving your help or feels like a burden?

Q5: What is one thing your clinician is asking you do that is improving your health?

Q6: Tell us about the best appointment you’ve had with a clinician. What made it awesome?

We hope to see you Friday, January 26th on Twitter (or tchat.io/rooms/patientchat) at 10:00 am Pacific / 1:00 pm Eastern. Be sure to include the hashtag #patientchat in all your responses!