Participatory Health Care: Maastricht University show what it can look like.

I followed a link from a comment to the most recent posting by Stephen Wilkens in his Mind the Gap blog ( Mind the Gap - Patient Enagement - Feb 2012 ) that demonstrated what articipatory health care can look like. It's also a model of an effective brief presentation on the value of a more patient-centered approach in health care.

Thanks to TED and Maastricht University, a world leader in patient-centered care and health professional education for producing this video. See also the TEDxMaastricht site ( TEDxMaastricht 2011 Inspiration Videos ) for several other excellent videos from their 2011 event on participatory health care. If you search around on their site, you will also find information on their planned April 2012 event.

Motivating Yourself: A New Empowered Patient Column in the March MPN Forum

My latest post in The Empowered Patient column in the March, 2012 issue of MPN Forum features a strategy to help you break through the ambivalence that often keeps people for making important life changes.

So, if you are considering change, but have been unable to take action, it may be useful to ask yourself a series of questions that spur you to reflect upon about the value, importance and meaning of making the change. See below for some questions to help you to motivate yourself to take action. Reflect on  your answers and consider writing down your responses to the 3 questions that have the most meaning to you.

See the MPN Forum column (http://mpnforum.com/the-empowered-patient-march/ ) for more guidance about how to use these quesions to help move yourself towards action.

Questions for Motivating Yourself 

• What do I want to change?
• What reasons do I have for changing? (focus on your reasons, rather than somebody else's reasons)
• What is the most important reason for changing?
• What makes it so important?
• If I were able to change, what benefits would I experience?
• What is the most important benefit?
• Who else might benefit from my change?
• How would people who care about me feel about my change? (picture the scene)
• How would I feel about myself if I was able to change? (try to imagine actually experiencing the feeling)
• What small steps can I take to get started on the road to change? (consider the really really small steps that you know you to successfully take)
• Who can help me get started?
• How can I bring my talents and skills and experience to the change process?