Journal of general internal medicine
-
Apologies may play a significant role in medical care, especially in the context of patient safety, medical error disclosure, and malpractice. Studies have shown that when state laws, institutional policies, and individual skills align-including the ability to offer a sincere apology-patients and families benefit. However, little is known about how, and under what conditions, physicians offer apologies in day-to-day care. Even less is known about what medical students learn about apologies from observing their superiors in these settings. ⋯ Few education programs target apologies in the context of routine practice. With little formal instruction, students may rely on adopting what their seniors do. Faculty have an important role to play in modeling the apology process when harms-both great and small-occur.
-
The psychological effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and response are poorly understood. ⋯ Among a nationally representative sample, there were higher S-anxiety and lower EQ-5D-3L VAS scores compared to non-pandemic normative data, indicative of a potential detrimental acute effect of the pandemic. More frequent daily media viewership was significantly associated with higher S-anxiety but also predictive of higher health utility, as measured by EQ-5D-3L VAS scores.
-
Despite social care interventions gaining traction in the US healthcare sector in recent years, the scaling of healthcare practices to address social adversity and coordinate care across sectors has been modest. Against this backdrop, the coronavirus pandemic arrived, which re-emphasized the interdependence of the health and social care sectors and motivated health systems to scale tools for identifying and addressing social needs. A framework on integrating social care into health care delivery developed by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine provides a useful organizing tool to understand the social care integration innovations spurred by COVID-19, including novel approaches to social risk screening and social care interventions. As the effects of the pandemic are likely to exacerbate socioeconomic barriers to health, it is an appropriate time to apply lessons learned during the recent months to re-evaluate efforts to strengthen, scale, and sustain the health care sector's social care activities.
-
Discharge Against Medical Advice in Acute Ischemic Stroke: the Risk of 30-Day Unplanned Readmission.
Discharge against medical advice may be associated with more readmissions. ⋯ Although the DAMA rate is low in AIS patients, DAMA is a risk factor for all-cause and recurrent stroke-specific readmissions. Future studies are needed to address issues around compliance and engagement with health care to reduce DAMA.
-
Despite the growing number of adult transgender and gender diverse (TGD) patients seeking health services, there are many unknowns regarding how routine screening recommendations should be applied to TGD persons receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT). Patients taking GAHT may have disease risks that differ from what is expected based on their sex assigned at birth or affirmed gender identity. ⋯ The goal of this narrative review is to assist healthcare professionals in counseling and screening their TGD patients when and where appropriate. Not all TGD adults have the ability or need to receive routine medical care from a specialized TGD health clinic; therefore, it is essential for all healthcare professionals involved in routine and gender-affirming care to have knowledge about these conditions and screenings.