Why patients should know librarians and why librarians should know social media.

A talk with e-Patient Dave deBronkart

A new world of participatory medicine has been growing for years, largely unnoticed. In this new world, healthcare is not a one-way street: empowered patients are engaged in their care, actively collaborating with their physicians, sharing responsibility for their care. The providers (doctors, nurses, etc) are still the providers, but the patients share in both the knowledge and the responsibility for how it all turns out.

And, certainly, the decision making.

Dave is actively engaged in opening health care information directly to patients on an unprecedented level, thus creating a new dynamic in how information is delivered, accessed and used by the patient.  In this talk, an empowered patient will engage librarians in strategies of using their skills and social media to help revolutionize and restructure health care delivery in this country.