One Thought to Be Taken Once a Day: 366 Well-Being Thoughts for Health Professionals

It is critical that patients understand that under no circumstances is email an appropriate communications tool for emergencies. However, before making these choices, it is important for professionals to remember that they may wish to shield some of their personal activities from people in their professional lives. Public postings on Twitter are now being digitally archived by the Library of Congress. For example, in the American Medical Association issued a policy statement on professionalism in the use of social media.

Despite these limitations, social media tools can prove quite useful. Content analysis of information on the Internet can identify important topics that are under-represented. Similarly, patients may use social networking sites to connect with other patients with similar needs and concerns. There are Facebook pages specifically for cancer survivors and fertility, African Americans, caregivers, and other groups with particular interests. Organizations such as ASCO have developed carefully editorialized websites targeting patients e.

Net that contain videos, blogs, and other educational materials. Many of these organizations also maintain a prolific Twitter and RSS Really Simple Syndication feed, Facebook presence, blogs, and podcasts to advertise new educational material, share information on the release of new data, among others. Social media tools could also be integrated into EHRs as part of a patient-centered care approach, but existing strict and potentially limiting rules about patient privacy would need to be modified to accommodate the integration of these tools into clinical practice.

DTCA became ubiquitous once authorized by the U. Food and Drug Administration FDA back in to cover print media and expanded in to include broadcast media. Third-party private websites also often gain large public viewership in a specific narrow area of knowledge, and are perceived as neutral even though many receive direct pharmaceutical company support without adequately disclosing it.

In view of this conflict of interest, groups such as the Consumer Union have advocated for tough and specific oversight rules for DTCA. Benefits include better access to health information and health services, improved patient care and safety, greater coordination of care, and more empowered patients. At the same time, it is important that information and technology not come between providers and their patients, with providers spending more time with computer terminals than patients.

Perhaps the greatest challenge for all is to find and apply information that is high-quality and helpful from the vast array of other information that is now available and use it to improve patient care while preserving the humanity of this interaction. Wolff and Snyder and Ms. Bantug receive funding from the Maryland affiliate of Susan G.

Komen for the Cure. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Author manuscript; available in PMC Jul 1. Snyder , PhD, Albert W. Miller , MD, Roxanne E. Jensen , PhD, Elissa T. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Broadway, Room , Baltimore, MD ;. The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Cancer J. See other articles in PMC that cite the published article. Abstract Patient-centered care is an important aspect of high-quality care.

Open in a separate window. Personal Health Records Personal health records PHRs , sometimes referred to as personally controlled health records, are electronic tools used by individual patients to store and share medical information. Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes Assessment The collection and interpretation of structured information from patients can inform and guide clinical care. Patient Navigation Patient navigation software allows cancer patients and survivors to organize many aspects of care, from initial diagnosis through long-term survivorship.

Survivorship Care Planning Historically, oncology care was responsible solely for treating or removing cancer, as an acute condition. Contributor Information Claire F. Crossing the Quality Chasm. National Academies Press; Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Health Aff Millwood ; A stimulus to define informatics and health information technology.

What is the quality of surgery-related information on the internet? Lessons learned from a standardized evaluation of 10 common operations. J Am Coll Surg. A comparison of world wide web resources for identifying medical information. Medication errors among adults and children with cancer in the outpatient setting.

Medication safety in the ambulatory chemotherapy setting. Certification Commission for Health Information Technology. Principles of safe practice using an oncology EHR system for chemotherapy ordering, preparation, and administration, Part 1 of 2. Schwappach DL, Wernli M. Healthcare system approaches for cancer patient communication. Patient-centered care and electronic health records: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Characteristics of the ideal personal health record. A vision for patient-centered health information systems.

Assessing the impact of patient accessible EHRs for breast cancer patients. An Internet-based patient-provider communication system: J Med Internet Res.

1. Historical Background and Introduction

Patient web services integrated with a shared medical record: J Am Med Inform Assoc. Tang PC, Lansky D. Web-based care management in patients with poorly controlled diabetes. Communication plays a critical role in web-based monitoring. J Diabetes Sci Technol. Providing a web-based online medical record with electronic communication capabilities to patients with congestive heart failure: Effectiveness of home blood pressure monitoring, Web communication, and pharmacist care on hypertension control: Doctor-patient relationship as motivation and outcome: Int J Med Inform.

Emma Allende (Author of One Thought to Be Taken Once a Day)

Electronic surveillance of testicular cancer: Measuring quality of life in routine oncology practice improves communication and patient well-being: Adverse symptom event reporting by patients vs clinicians: J Natl Cancer Inst. Use of health-related quality-of-life assessments in daily clinical oncology nursing practice: Randomized trial of coordinated psychosocial interventions based on patient self-assessments versus standard care to improve the psychosocial functioning of patients with cancer. Role of a medical social worker in improving quality of life for patients with advanced cancer with a structured multidisciplinary intervention.

Electronic collection of health-related quality of life data: Response rate and completeness of questionnaires: The application of computer touch-screen technology in screening for psychosocial distress in an ambulatory oncology setting. Eur J Cancer Care Engl ; Relevant content for a patient-reported outcomes questionnaire for use in oncology clinical practice: Putting doctors and patients on the same page. The clinical value of quality of life assessment in oncology practice-a qualitative study of patient and physician views.

Long-term toxicity monitoring via electronic patient-reported outcomes in patients receiving chemotherapy. Validation of the Patient Care Monitor Version 2. A review of system assessment instrument for cancer patients. J Pain Symptom Manage. Implementation of computer-based quality-of-life monitoring in brain tumor outpatients in routine clinical practice. Patients report improvements in continuity of care when quality of life assessments are used routinely in oncology practice: Using technology to improve data capture and integration of patient-reported outcomes into clinical care: Pilot results in a busy colorectal unit.

Rose M, Bezjak A. Logistics of collecting patient-reported outcomes PROs in clinical practice: Application of mobile phone technology for managing chemotherapy-associated side-effects. Development of a telehealth intervention for head and neck cancer patients. Telemed J E Health. Evaluation of a mobile phone-based, advanced symptom management system ASMS in the management of chemotherapy-related toxicity.

An innovative symptom monitoring tool for people with advanced lung cancer: Managing symptoms among patients with breast cancer during chemotherapy: Results of a two-arm behavioral trial. Electronic patient self-assessment and management SAM: Online health search The emerging Web 2. Health Info Libr J. Medical apps for smartphones. Ensuring quality care for cancer survivors: Hartzband P, Groopman J.

Chemical disinfectants are products that kill pathogens. If the product is a disinfectant, the label on the product should say "disinfectant" or "kills" pathogens. Some commercial products, e.

Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications

Not all disinfectants kill all types of pathogens. All disinfectants kill bacteria called bactericidal. Some also kill fungi fungicidal , bacterial spores sporicidal or viruses virucidal. An antibacterial product is a product that acts against bacteria in some unspecified way. Some products labelled "antibacterial" kill bacteria while others may contain a concentration of active ingredient that only prevent them multiplying. It is, therefore, important to check whether the product label states that it "kills" bacteria.

The term sanitizer has been used to define substances that both clean and disinfect. More recently this term has been applied to alcohol-based products that disinfect the hands alcohol hand sanitizers. Alcohol hand sanitizers however are not considered to be effective on soiled hands. The term biocide is a broad term for a substance that kills, inactivates or otherwise controls living organisms.

It includes antiseptics and disinfectants, which combat micro-organisms, and pesticides. In developing countries , universal access to water and sanitation has been seen as the essential step in reducing the preventable infectious diseases burden, but it is now clear that this is best achieved by programs that integrate hygiene promotion with improvements in water quality and availability, and sanitation. This approach has been integrated into the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6 whose second target states: About 2 million people die every year due to diarrheal diseases, most of them are children less than 5 years of age.

Providing access to sufficient quantities of safe water, the provision of facilities for a sanitary disposal of excreta, and introducing sound hygiene behaviors are of capital importance to reduce the burden of disease caused by these risk factors. Research shows that, if widely practiced, hand washing with soap could reduce diarrhea by almost fifty percent [36] [37] [38] and respiratory infections by nearly twenty-five percent [39] [40] Hand washing with soap also reduces the incidence of skin diseases, [41] [42] eye infections like trachoma and intestinal worms, especially ascariasis and trichuriasis.

Other hygiene practices, such as safe disposal of waste, surface hygiene, and care of domestic animals, are important in low income communities to break the chain of infection transmission. Cleaning of toilets and hand wash facilities is important to prevent odors and make them socially acceptable. Social acceptance is an important part of encouraging people to use toilets and wash their hands, in situations where open defecation is still seen as a possible alternative, e.

Household water treatment and safe storage ensure drinking water is safe for consumption. These interventions are part of the approach of self-supply of water for households. Point-of-use water quality interventions can reduce diarrheal disease in communities where water quality is poor or in emergency situations where there is a breakdown in water supply. Methods for treatment of drinking water, [49] [15] include:.

Personal hygiene involves those practices performed by an individual to care for one's bodily health and well being, through cleanliness. Motivations for personal hygiene practice include reduction of personal illness, healing from personal illness, optimal health and sense of well being, social acceptance and prevention of spread of illness to others.

What is considered proper personal hygiene can be cultural-specific and may change over time. Other practices that are generally considered proper hygiene include bathing regularly, washing hands regularly and especially before handling food, washing scalp hair, keeping hair short or removing hair, wearing clean clothing, brushing teeth, cutting finger nails, besides other practices. Some practices are gender-specific, such as by a woman during her menstruation. Toiletry bags holds body hygiene and toiletry supplies. Anal hygiene is the practice that a person performs on the anal area of themselves after defecation.

The anus and buttocks may be either washed with liquids or wiped with toilet paper or adding gel wipe [51] to toilet tissue as an alternative to wet wipes or other solid materials in order to remove remnants of feces. People tend to develop a routine for attending to their personal hygiene needs. Other personal hygienic practices would include covering one's mouth when coughing, disposal of soiled tissues appropriately, making sure toilets are clean, and making sure food handling areas are clean, besides other practices.

Some cultures do not kiss or shake hands to reduce transmission of bacteria by contact. Personal grooming extends personal hygiene as it pertains to the maintenance of a good personal and public appearance, which need not necessarily be hygienic. It may involve, for example, using deodorants or perfume, shaving, or combing, besides other practices. Excessive body hygiene is one example of obsessive compulsive disorder. The hygiene hypothesis was first formulated in by Strachan who observed that there was an inverse relationship between family size and development of atopic allergic disorders—the more children in a family, the less likely they were to develop these allergies.

Strachan further proposed that the reason why this exposure no longer occurs is not only because of the trend towards smaller families, but also "improved household amenities and higher standards of personal cleanliness ". Although there is substantial evidence that some microbial exposures in early childhood can in some way protect against allergies, there is no evidence that humans need exposure to harmful microbes infection or that it is necessary to suffer a clinical infection. A consensus is now developing among experts that the answer lies in more fundamental changes in lifestyle etc.

This has caused concern among health professionals that everyday life hygiene behaviours, which are the foundation of public health, are being undermined. In response to the need for effective hygiene in home and everyday life settings, the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene has developed a "risk-based" or targeted approach to home hygiene that seeks to ensure that hygiene measures are focussed on the places, and at the times most critical for infection transmission. Excessive body hygiene of the ear canals can result in infection or irritation.

The ear canals require less body hygiene care than other parts of the body, because they are sensitive, and the body adequately cares for them. Most of the time the ear canals are self-cleaning; that is, there is a slow and orderly migration of the skin lining the ear canal from the eardrum to the outer opening of the ear. Old earwax is constantly being transported from the deeper areas of the ear canal out to the opening where it usually dries, flakes, and falls out. Excessive application of soaps, creams, and ointments can adversely affect certain of the natural processes of the skin.

For examples, soaps and ointments can deplete the skin of natural protective oils and fat-soluble content such as cholecalciferol vitamin D3 , and external substances can be absorbed, to disturb natural hormonal balances. There are a number of common oral hygiene misconceptions.

It is not correct to rinse the mouth with water after brushing. The Effectiveness of Tooth Mousse is in debate. Culinary hygiene pertains to the practices related to food management and cooking to prevent food contamination , prevent food poisoning and minimize the transmission of disease to other foods, humans or animals. Culinary hygiene practices specify safe ways to handle, store, prepare, serve and eat food.

Personal service hygiene pertains to the practices related to the care and use of instruments used in the administration of personal care services to people:. Sleep hygiene is the recommended behavioral and environmental practice that is intended to promote better quality sleep. Sleep hygiene recommendations include establishing a regular sleep schedule, using naps with care, not exercising physically or mentally too close to bedtime, limiting worry, limiting exposure to light in the hours before sleep, getting out of bed if sleep does not come, not using bed for anything but sleep and avoiding alcohol as well as nicotine , caffeine , and other stimulants in the hours before bedtime, and having a peaceful, comfortable and dark sleep environment.

The earliest written account of Elaborate codes of hygiene can be found in several Hindu texts, such as the Manusmriti and the Vishnu Purana. Regular bathing was a hallmark of Roman civilization. The complexes usually consisted of large, swimming pool-like baths, smaller cold and hot pools, saunas, and spa-like facilities where individuals could be depilated, oiled, and massaged.

Water was constantly changed by an aqueduct -fed flow. Bathing outside of urban centers involved smaller, less elaborate bathing facilities, or simply the use of clean bodies of water. Roman cities also had large sewers , such as Rome's Cloaca Maxima , into which public and private latrines drained. Romans didn't have demand-flush toilets but did have some toilets with a continuous flow of water under them.

Until the late 19th Century, only the elite in Western cities typically possessed indoor facilities for relieving bodily functions. The poorer majority used communal facilities built above cesspools in backyards and courtyards. This changed after Dr. John Snow discovered that cholera was transmitted by the fecal contamination of water. Though it took decades for his findings to gain wide acceptance, governments and sanitary reformers were eventually convinced of the health benefits of using sewers to keep human waste from contaminating water.

This encouraged the widespread adoption of both the flush toilet and the moral imperative that bathrooms should be indoors and as private as possible. Christianity has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene. The Church built public bathing facilities that were separate for both sexes near monasteries and pilgrimage sites; also, the popes situated baths within church basilicas and monasteries since the early Middle Ages. Contrary to popular belief [75] and although the Early Christian leaders, such as Boniface I, [76] condemned bathing as unspiritual, [77] bathing and sanitation were not lost in Europe with the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The Romans used scented oils mostly from Egypt , among other alternatives. Northern Europeans were not in the habit of bathing: There was a certain deacon who followed the habits of the Italians in that he was perpetually trying to resist nature. He used to take baths, he had his head very closely shaved, he polished his skin, he cleaned his nail, he had his hair cut as short as if it were turned on a lathe, and he wore linen underclothes and a snow-white shirt. Secular medieval texts constantly refer to the washing of hands before and after meals, but Sone de Nansay, hero of a 13th-century romance, discovers to his chagrin that the Norwegians do not wash up after eating.

Bathing had fallen out of fashion in Northern Europe long before the Renaissance , when the communal public baths of German cities were in their turn a wonder to Italian visitors. Bathing was replaced by the heavy use of sweat-bathing and perfume , as it was thought in Europe that water could carry disease into the body through the skin. Bathing encouraged an erotic atmosphere that was played upon by the writers of romances intended for the upper class; [83] in the tale of Melusine the bath was a crucial element of the plot. Bathing was said to be a prelude to sin, and in the penitential of Burchard of Worms we find a full catalogue of the sins that ensued when men and women bathed together.

Modern sanitation was not widely adopted until the 19th and 20th centuries. According to medieval historian Lynn Thorndike, people in Medieval Europe probably bathed more than people did in the 19th century. Many religions require or encourage ritual purification via bathing or immersing the hands in water.

THE ROLE OF INFORMATICS IN PROMOTING PATIENT-CENTERED CARE

In Islam , washing oneself via wudu or ghusl is necessary for performing prayer. Islamic tradition also lists a variety of rules concerning proper hygiene after using the bathroom. Orthodox Judaism requires a mikveh bath following menstruation, sexual relations, and childbirth, while washing the hands is performed before prayers. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For specific kinds of hygienist, see Industrial hygienist and Dental hygienist. For the community in the United States, see Hygiene, Colorado. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. September Learn how and when to remove this template message. Islamic hygienical jurisprudence , Ritual washing in Judaism , and Islamic toilet etiquette. International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene. American Journal of Infection Control. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The Benefits of Effective Cleaning. Allergen control through routine cleaning of pollutant reservoirs in the home environment. Proceedings of Healthy Building ;4: Transatlantic Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Archived from the original PDF on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on 2 March Retrieved 22 February Decontamination of linen for health and social care" PDF. UK Department of Health. UK health and Safety Executive. Clean water and sanitation". Retrieved 18 April