Healthcare Shared Decisions is extending our focus on COVID19 with a new series of posts that support you in making your own decisions related to risk. Using a wildfire to describe the US spread of COVID19 seems apt this summer. Wildfires can begin small and unseen. They are often human driven. When the environment is…
Harmless... Like A Wildfire! Extending our focus on COVID19.
Personal Risk Decisions
Longer days and sunny weather in March suggest springtime is near, increasing our desire to see life return to a more normal pattern. Simple activities like going to a movie, museum, or café are goals we set for ourselves. But many people are already doing these activities. When others go without masks and social distance…
Pregnant Women and Vaccine Protection
Concern and confusion swirls around vaccines. This is especially true for women who are pregnant. Fear of harming an unborn child can become a barrier to taking a vaccine, even when it is available. Two professional organizations offer reassurance that vaccines are safe during pregnancy: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the…
Living with Reality: What We Can Learn from Nurses
Spring is approaching and the desire to rid our communities of this viral scourge is strong. We long to “return to normal” but our country is still riddled with COVID, which is learning how to adapt faster than we are willing to face reality. We are the virus’s best friend. SARS- 2 is dependent on…
When the Lights Go Out
Imagine being stuck in a shopping mall when the lights go out. It’s a complete and unwelcome surprise. Your spacial awareness is hampered in an unfamiliar location. Moving around is dangerous with obstacles in your way. People are frightened. Now imagine an emergency landing on an airplane. Still a scary situation, however every passenger has…
Trick or Treat: A Vaccine at Your Door?
Halloween supplies are already on shelves and fall is upon us. There’s brand new information out too, suggesting vaccines are around the corner and the US will have a magical end to COVID 19. Let’s take a “time out.” Just as too much candy makes kids go a little wild, too much conflicting information is…
Harmless... Like A Wildfire!
Bugs: Virus vs Bacteria and what you need to know.
A Virus on the Move
Visit our dedicated COVID-19 information page Media coverage on viruses, like the flu or the novel corona virus (Covid-19), is only helpful to a point. When you become concerned for your own health you need expert resources with clear directions. Shared Decisions brings you a composite of key evidence-based resources you can search now and…
Infection-Fighting Super Powers Within Us All
Disorders of our body’s immune system are frustratingly complex and affect the lives of more than 20 million Americans. Finalizing a diagnosis with the range of symptoms that are possible in these diseases is a complex process. There are more than 80 types of autoimmune problems noted on Medline Plus. People with one of these…
Kitchens, Boxes and Water Bottles: How long can a virus survive on common surfaces?
Just the Facts The staying power of COVID-19 on daily-use items has raised many questions about how long viruses can live outside of our bodies. This blog uses current evidence, never hearsay, to find answers. Fortunately, on this topic there is a helpful study conducted by the NIH Infectious Disease Institute, CDC, UCLA and Princeton…
The Nano-Sized Invader: Corona Virus
If you weren’t familiar with the Corona virus before, you know it now. Let’s do a round up of facts we know about this invader. This nano-sized virus is nimble, travels very easily, and has capability to change. It needs human hosts in order to live. Without live human cells it cannot reproduce and live….
Bugs: Virus vs Bacteria
Where to find trusted resources based on evidence for your decisions.
Mystery of Pregnancy and COVID-19
Unknowns increase worry for many of us, but unknowns for science are mysteries to be solved. In mid-summer 2020 one of the mysteries of this virus, COVID-19, is how it affects women who are pregnant. If you are a parent or family member of someone expecting a baby, then you likely have a greater concern…
Back to School?
Let’s Talk About Children Seven Months into the Pandemic As we near the mid-point of summer and community discussions about schools opening are heightened by the political posture surrounding the topic. How schools will reopen is perhaps one of the most emotional topics in this pandemic. Parents, teachers, and children all have questions about safety….
Opening Up in the House of Mirrors
Americans have entered a phase II reopening from COVID 19 with little clarity or consistency. The country is opening at varying rates across the states with the goal of getting back to “normal” economically and socially. Given the unknowns with this virus a return to normal as we remember it will be in question for…
COVID-19: The New Impact on Children
Summer is arriving, and with it the hope that the virus will decrease during the warmer months. The season is usually a time of exploration and outside fun, especially for children. This year, however, new concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on children, and the need to continue to limit social interaction, may make this…
Is This 1918 All Over Again?
When Influenza surfaced in the spring of 1918, it was fresh on the heels of a respiratory disease epidemic lasted from 1915 until 1917. Was the outbreak in 1918 caused by the same agent? Would this disease ease off in another year or two as before? There was no understanding of virus or zoonosis. In…
Testing and More Testing: Does it matter?
Today the US has almost 900,000 confirmed (this word is key) cases of CoVid 19. Below is the April 24, 2020 graph from Johns Hopkins Corona Virus Resource center. This picture can be summed up in one word: Overwhelmed. We’ve been given millions of words about this virus yet many are not offering clear evidence-based…
Trusted Resources
Strategies for Self-Care
COVID Summer Reads
Good books and summer go together. So how about a great read that looks back in time to see how people confronted pandemics in the past? It’s interesting to see that our daily experiences in 2020 are not that different from the fear and anger that others felt many years ago. The biggest difference between…
Opening Up: Now What?
In the US we have a patchwork of what it means to transition from “stay at home” orders to “safer at home.” These guidelines are implemented differently in each state, which means we all have questions about routine care needs. Preventative care appointments like dental cleanings, mammograms, or colonoscopies are often on people’s calendars months…
2020 is a Key Moment for Evidence Based Care
Shared Decisions advocates for evidence-based care and patients who prepare to participate in decision-making about their health by actively seeking accurate, science-based information. Why is evidence-based care more important today than ever before? There are still science doubters – an irony in the 21st century with our nearly unlimited access to knowledge – who doubt…
Managing Daily Life; Why Has the Joy Gone?
Remember when the morning alarm clock signaled the start of a new day? On awakening you may have been excited about an upcoming trip to see old friends at the beach or groaned because this day meant you had that dreaded meeting for a project not going well and then there was dental appointment in…
Sick at Home
There is a bit of good news for those mildly sick with COVID 19; most people recover within two weeks. Data on recovery lags behind the daily totals and rarely makes the news. When you look at the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 map keep this in mind. The same is true if you are checking your…
Infection-Fighting Super Powers Within Us All
Disorders of our body’s immune system are frustratingly complex and affect the lives of more than 20 million Americans. Finalizing a diagnosis with the range of symptoms that are possible in these diseases is a complex process. There are more than 80 types of autoimmune problems noted on Medline Plus. People with one of these…
Strategies for Self-Care
Asking questions that will guide your decisions about treatment, medication and more.
Is a Knee Replacement on the Horizon?
Hospitals are beginning to add non-essential surgeries back into daily practices. The American Hospital Association announced the CMS updated guidance on re-opening hospitals to procedures and other care as the country moves forward during the pandemic. The AHA, in conjunction with the three surgical professional organizations, released an extensive document for hospitals outlining the critical…
What is Shared Decision-Making in Healthcare?
Terminology such as shared decision-making may seem unfathomable during a pandemic. Our normal approach to healthcare has disappeared. Arranging an appointment for dental cleaning, a mammogram, or visit to orthopedic surgeon about the relentless ache in your knee are no longer taken lightly. As the virus continues to stalk the world, we are evolving a…
To Mask or Not to Mask? Guidance to Keep Fear Away
COVID-19 is on a global rampage and the US is no exception. The uncertainty and daily reports of deaths is driving an Infodemic which feeds fear. How do we protect ourselves? Is 6’ enough distance from someone else? Do we need masks for everyone? Masks have become a source of confusion underscoring the uncertainty we…
Asking Questions
Managing pain for best outcomes.
Treating Low Back Pain: The Research Shows Posture-Breath-Mind is Key
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common reasons people seek primary care. According to recent review in Up To Date 84 percent of adults are likely to have one experience of low back pain in their lives. While occasional pain is self-limiting and lasts 4-6 weeks, episodes that last longer can become…
Healing Messages from Around the World
This new zoonotic disease, CoV-2, is challenging our global supply chains, dramatically affecting the financial markets, fueling rapid-paced research, and stressing our healthcare professionals to the limits in many areas. It is also taxing our collective patience with “stay at home” mandates that require we adjust our lives. In this post we are sharing some…
Managing Pain
Antibiotics and safe use of these important drugs.
Is This 1918 All Over Again?
When Influenza surfaced in the spring of 1918, it was fresh on the heels of a respiratory disease epidemic lasted from 1915 until 1917. Was the outbreak in 1918 caused by the same agent? Would this disease ease off in another year or two as before? There was no understanding of virus or zoonosis. In…
Post Antibiotic Era: Back to the 19th Century
Beginning of New Era: Antibiotics fight bacteria When the first antibiotic was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming there was skepticism that this “mold juice,” as he described the results in a petri dish, would be helpful for patients. It was twelve more years before Penicillin was used on the first patient, a London policeman…
Antibiotics