For Patients, Education is Empowerment
- Patient education matters for diseases like multiple myeloma and other cancers. Experts say when patients learn more about their disease and understand options, it can have a big impact on treatment outcomes.
- Good patient education empowers you to communicate clearly with your healthcare provider, understand why specific tests and treatments are recommended, and make informed choices aligned with your values and goals.
- Dr. June Lanoue, president of U.S. hematology at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, says patients need to “be their own champion.” She encourages patients to ask doctors any question that’s on their mind that might help determine the best treatment path — and to use other patients as resources.
Patient education involves more than just reading a pamphlet. It involves thoroughly learning about your disease, potential treatments, side effects, lifestyle adjustments, and supportive services. Good patient education empowers you to communicate clearly with your healthcare provider, understand why specific tests and treatments are recommended, and make informed choices aligned with your values and goals. In essence, it puts the “power” into patient empowerment.
Read MoreHow Patient Education Empowers Patients
An empowered patient is someone who actively and deliberately participates in creating their care plan. By gaining knowledge about multiple myeloma, you become a partner in your own healthcare. Doctors can play a role in empowering patients, especially with a disease like multiple myeloma, where many patients have heard little or nothing about the cancer before their diagnosis.“One of the challenges that we see today is, not only do patients not have access to the education, but half the time they don’t even know what multiple myeloma is, and our job is to ensure that we reach as many patients who first find out they have multiple myeloma so they could have the empowerment to make that decision on their own while consulting with the physician,” says Dr. Lanoue.
“Patient education is really critical and paramount so that patients feel empowered to control multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma should not control their life, but the patient should know what their choices are and how they get their treatments,” she further explains.
How Education Improves Outcomes
When you understand your disease, you’re more likely to follow through with the recommended treatment plan, recognize early signs of complications, and seek help promptly when new symptoms appear. Knowing what to expect can reduce anxiety, help you manage treatment side effects, and allow you to plan ahead—whether that means adjusting your work schedule or seeking help with daily tasks at home.
“One of the things we’ve learned in our research is that when the patient already has multiple myeloma, for instance, they have newly diagnosed multiple myeloma and they relapse the second line … they’ve already become an expert and the way that they found out is not only through their physicians but their patient advocacy groups online with other patients. So, that education is really critical, so they have the choice to make in terms of how they want to live their lives,” Dr. Lanoue says.
Dr. Lanoue’s advice to patients is to “be your own champion.”
After a diagnosis, she encourages patients to ask doctors any question that’s on their mind that might help determine the best treatment path — and to use other patients as resources.
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