When it comes to managing life with a chronic illness, taking all your medications and following your treatment regimen isn\u2019t as simple as you might think. In fact, it\u2019s often really hard.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what Emily sought out to remind health care providers and policymakers at a March 11-12 conference, \u201cPromoting Appropriate Medication Use: a Collaborative Strategy,\u201d held by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a national initiative of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.<\/p>\n
Drawing on her lifetime experience as a Cystic Fibrosis patient, Emily served on a panel called \u201cPatients as Partners.\u201d She spoke about her evolution into a \u201csuper-patient,\u201d the empowered, engaged and hyper-adherent partner in her care that she is today despite her time-consuming medical regimen. You can ready more about her journey here.<\/a><\/p>\n Emily said her adult CF medical team\u2019s willingness to listen, high regard for her life goals, and co-development of care plans together as partners served as catalysts for her evolution into an empowered \u201csuper-patient.\u201d<\/p>\n She stressed the importance of treating the whole patient, not just a symptom or disease, and brought to life the enormous impact of medications and treatments on patients\u2019 everyday lives.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen [providers] jot down a new prescription or rattle off a new treatment, it may seem like just another pill, or just another 20-minute nebulizer, but I think what often gets lost is the impact of those additions\u2014the ripples.\u201d<\/p>\n She also highlighted the substantial barriers many patients face in their attempt to follow care plans, including significant time burdens, difficulty obtaining prior authorizations, and difficult decisions about which prescription to take if they can\u2019t afford them all.<\/p>\n Her core message: we have to change the conversation from one about medication adherence and non-adherence to asking the question, how can we create a system that brings out the most empowered, satisfied, healthy and productive \u201csuper-patient\u201d in us all?<\/strong><\/p>\n Emily was one of a handful of patients and caregivers among the 33 speakers, panelists and moderators at the AHRQ conference, convened by the Centers for Education & Research on Therapeutics. Emily participated in a \u201cPatients as Partners\u201d panel moderated by Michael Seid<\/a>, PhD, Cincinnati Children\u2019s Hospital Medical Center that included: Ian Eslick<\/a>, PhD, managing partner, Vital Reactor; Erin Moore<\/a>, CF parent and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation advocacy chair for Ohio; and Roni Zeiger<\/a>, MD, CEO of Smart Patients.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lorsqu'il s'agit de g\u00e9rer sa vie avec une maladie chronique, prendre tous ses m\u00e9dicaments et suivre son traitement n'est pas aussi simple qu'on pourrait le croire. En fait, c'est souvent tr\u00e8s difficile. C'est ce qu'Emily a voulu rappeler aux prestataires de soins de sant\u00e9 et aux d\u00e9cideurs politiques lors d'une conf\u00e9rence organis\u00e9e les 11 et 12 mars, intitul\u00e9e \u201cPromouvoir... <\/p>\n