February is American Heart Month

February is American Heart Month

American Heart Month is February; this observance honors health professionals, researchers and heart health ambassadors whose dedication to fighting heart disease enables countless Americans to live full and active lives. The observance is focused on reducing the...
CDC: FluView – Influenza is Spreading and Serious

CDC: FluView – Influenza is Spreading and Serious

According to this week’s FluView report from the CDC, seasonal influenza activity increased slightly in the United States. While influenza A (H3N2) viruses have been most common since October 1, in the past three weeks, influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 viruses have...
AHRQ Offers Tools To Promote Patient Involvement

AHRQ Offers Tools To Promote Patient Involvement

    “Questions Are the Answer” Tools to Promote Patient Involvement  “Questions Are the Answer,” is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ’s) ongoing public education initiative to involve patients and their...
Knowledge + Skills + Confidence = Patient Activation

Knowledge + Skills + Confidence = Patient Activation

What would it take for consumers to become effective and informed managers of their health and health care? What skills, knowledge, beliefs, and motivations do they need to become “activated” or more effectual health care actors? The Patient Activation Measure® (PAM)...
Increasing the Voice of the Patient: Seeking Partners

Increasing the Voice of the Patient: Seeking Partners

“Patient engagement is the blockbuster drug of the century.” – Dr. Farzad Mostashari, former head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, from Patient Engagement: Medicine’s New “Blockbuster...
Celebrating Caregivers…Today and Everyday!

Celebrating Caregivers…Today and Everyday!

  There are four kinds of people in the world: Those who have been caregivers; Those who currently are caregivers; Those who will be caregivers; Those who will need a caregiver. – Rosalynn Carter (Former First Lady)   There are more than 65 million...