Surviving Health Care: A Manual for Patients »

This book serves as a tool to help patients and families deal rationally with the perplexing and often irrational world of healthcare. It covers the topics and addresses the challenges that experts in a variety of healthcare fields believe to be the most vital to meeting the challenges of decision-making when people feel most vulnerable. With contributions from leading healthcare specialists, Surviving Health Care: A Manual for Patients and their Families examines a wide array of topics, including advance planning for healthcare, medical emergencies, genetic testing, pain management, and care of elders. It is a unique resource that aims above all to help patients reach their best healthcare decisions.

Contributors ix

Preface xiii

1 Letter to Patients: On Becoming the "Good" Patient and Finding the "Right" Doctor Leonard C. Groopman 1

2 Becoming an Active Member of Your Health Care Team William A. Norcross 13

3 Information That Will Help You with Advance Planning for Your Health Care Mark R. Wicclair 26

4 Responding to Medical Emergencies Kenneth V. Iserson 46

5 What You Need to Know about Medical Errors Erica S. Friedman Rosamond Rhodes 56

6 Being Informed When You Give Consent to Medical Care Ben A. Rich 69

7 Beware of Scorecards James J. Strain Rosamond Rhodes 85

8 Transplantation 101: Negotiating the System Aaron Spital Steven Smith 96

9 When the Illness Is Psychiatric Leonard C. Groopman 124

10 On the Horizon: Genetic Testing Robyn S. Shapiro 136

11 To Be or Not to Be - A Research Subject Eric M. Meslin Peter H. Schwartz 146

12 Information That Will Help You Make Health Care Decisions for Adult Family Members Mark R. Wicclair 163

13 Caring for Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease: Ethical Issues along the Way Robyn S. Shapiro 179

14 When the Patient Is a Child Timothy S. Yeh 191

15 Care of Elders Claudia Landau Guy Micco 206

16 Being and Thinking Ilina Singh Claudia Jacova Paul Ford Judy Illes 222

17 A Patient's Guide to Pain Management Ben A. Rich 246

18 The Hardest Decisions: When Treatment Stops Working Timothy E. Quill Mindy Shah 264

19 What You Need to Know about Disasters Griffin Trotter 279

20 Making the Internet Work for You: Researching Your Health Questions Bette Anton 294

Appendix: Patient Individual Profile J. Westly McGaughey Ruchika Mishra Alexis Lopez 311

Index 317