17
May
2019
|
18:28 PM
America/New_York

How to Help Your Patients Find Credible Information about Their Disease

The Rheumatologist discusses how rheumatologists can assist their patients living with a chronic disease identify useful patient education materials containing credible information.

The Rheumatologist spoke to Michael D. Lockshin, MD, rheumatologist at HSS, who said some of the many websites available are very helpful, while others are no help at all. “What I recommend depends very much on what questions patients ask,” said Dr. Lockshin. “The chat rooms and ‘ask the doctor’ sessions work best when the questions are about atypical or rare manifestations of illness, since answers can be more specific to the individual’s questions.”

The written word accompanied by pictures or other graphics remains a popular format for patient education materials. Dr. Lockshin and his colleagues at HSS provide written, online, and conference discussions in several languages (i.e., Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese. etc.). “This sort of service can be one-on-one translation or talks and workshops, usually in the communities with large numbers of non-English-speaking members, with simultaneous translation and Q&A from an English-speaking presenter,” noted Dr. Lockshin.

Read the full article at the-rheumatologist.org.