Kathryn Gurland has learned about the intricacies of cancer through her work as a medical social worker and therapist. But Ms. Gurland’s knowledge is also uniquely personal. Her older sister Judi learned that she had melanoma at age 46 and died eight months later. Her younger sister Peggy, who never smoked, received a diagnosis of nonsmall-cell lung cancer and died 14 months later, just shy of her 45th birthday.
Ms Gurland reminds us that health care is more than testing, diagnosis, and treatment.
In this NYT Well blog post, Ms Gurland reminds us that even at a moment of crisis we must allow for the time people need to come to decisions about this immense event in their lives:
"Many survivors say that they wish they had taken more time to think out their early options, instead of simply reacting to the pressure and the stress of their diagnosis."
When we design our work to allow us the time we need to fully engage in caring we are operating closer to our professional ideal. The pressures that force us to shortchange our interactions subvert the caring and outcomes we and our patients desire.
Some practices and networks have figured out how to allow the front lines of care the time and resources necessary to really do our work We would do well to explore these systems and practices and figure out how to generalize the approach. It is more satisfying not only to the patients but to the physicians and the rest of the health care team.
L Gordon Moore
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