Christina's Considerations

The Plasma Revolution: How US Donors Are Shaping The Future of Global Health

Yesterday, I received a press release that caught my attention in a significant way. It is primarily due to the fact that I'm a recipient of the generosity of blood and plasma donors. In addition, along my journey and participation... Read more →

Reflections of a Patient Advocate - An evolving journey in healthcare!

When I decided to become a hospital administrator at 17 (who does that?) I wanted to eliminate barriers and overcome challenges so that nurses and doctors could provide better care. I guess I was advocating for patients my entire career,... Read more →

Not in Vain A Promise Kept

Years ago as a blogger, physicians and a few other clinicians found me and shared their books. Today, patients and their caregivers find me. Not in Vain is a daughter's advocacy in honor of her mother and her experience with... Read more →

The Long and Winding Road to Care

Rare conditions, syndromes and diseases can include a really long and winding road; especially during the diagnosis period. Rare doesn't mean there isn't a diagnosis, it just means more thought and referrals for second opinions or referrals to specialists are... Read more →

The Changing Brain: Dementia

The last couple of years were challenging for my family. My mom had dementia and we needed to try and keep up with her changing brain and its impact on her functioning, social needs, and physical status. We also needed... Read more →

Legal Innovations & Healthcare Harm

Effective hospital risk managers and executives, learn the importance of communication when it comes to preventing most lawsuits. Clear communications that can be acted upon make for more efficient and effective workplaces, but also better quality and safer care. But,... Read more →

Changa in Functional Medicine

A few years ago, I read about the life and work of Hildegard von Bingen (c. 1098 - 1179), a German nun and scientific/medical writer. She began using the herbs grown in her monastery garden to aid those she cared... Read more →

PHI Compliance: What It Is and How To Achieve It

This guest post from Nightfall (a cloud-native data loss prevention solution) is written for organizations that partner with those in the healthcare industry, but I share this post to help educate consumers. One reason is I often hear "you can... Read more →

Do you need a second opinion? The doctor doesn't always know best!

Too many consumers of health care services feel stuck. They know something is wrong, but their physician (or another clinician) doesn't find anything or suggests a diagnosis or treatment that just doesn't seem to fit. While we don't want to... Read more →

Disrupting the Healthcare Ecosystem - Again!

The healthcare system has been evolving over a long period of time. And, it seems, this evolution has been picking up speed given the rapid advancements we have experienced over the last few decades. Part of this evolution has been... Read more →

Woodworking as Art Therapy: Getting Started

Did you know that Wood was the first drawing material? Wood, in the form of charcoal, was the first artistic medium. An example of cave art, using charred wood, at Rouffignac in France dates back 13,000 years. Kiln produced charcoal... Read more →

Effective Communication for Patient Safety

Medical errors, delays in care, bias and misunderstandings are most often the result in communication failures. In fact, most lawsuits filed by patients and/or their families are the result of communication issues that sometimes lead to poor outcomes. This is... Read more →

Is there actually CBD in the product(s) you purchase?

Cannabinoid products (CBD) are appearing everywhere and in different forms. We can find salves, chews, gummies, bath bombs, oils, concentrates and beverages on store shelves and online. While high quality CBD can be effective in addressing some of our health... Read more →

Hand Sanitizer: Non-Alcohol Options

These days there is a great deal of buzz about hand sanitizer. There are options to the traditional alcohol based products, or those you can make from home. One intriguing option is Clean Well, because my skin is really dry.... Read more →

Empowering Advocates: #ChronicTogether

I was recently asked how did I learn to advocate for myself as a patient. This made me reflect on my career in health administration, where I recognized the importance of patients advocating for themselves early in my journey. In... Read more →

During the holidays, free yourself and let go of what you can't control!

The holidays can be a stressful, sad and/or lonely time for some. This may be especially true for family caregivers who are trying to navigate through family gatherings with a loved one who exhibits challenging behaviors. My holiday wish is... Read more →

Chronic Illness Holiday Gift Guide: Top 5

Tis' the season of holidays and the giving of gifts. But, what do you get for someone with functional limitations caused by injury, chronic illness or aging processes? This year I've been keeping an eye out for a few items... Read more →

Canines N Kids - At the Hospital

I've been a delinquent blogger again, but have some new ideas.... and a few books to review. One of these books is "We'll Get Through This Together". It reminds me of the power of pet therapy in the hospital or... Read more →

Book Review: Choosing Joy with Alzheimer's

"Joy and woe are woven fine." - William Blake There is a wonderful book for caregivers that offers expert advice ... from a caregiver. It is focused on her experience caring for someone with Alzheimer's, however, the experiences and advice... Read more →

Showcasing Functional Limitation Aids

A little over two years ago I started researching tools to help me stay active in spite of new functional limitations. I looked for products to help me perform activities of daily living as independently as possible. As I progressed... Read more →

Safety Leadership: Overcoming & Avoiding Bias

Earlier this year I wrote an article for healthcare professionals on safety leadership. The idea is that scientific methods, standardization and reliability are not enough to reduce error and failure. Sometimes human performance in the actual environment of care is... Read more →

Avoiding Delays in Neurological Diagnosis - The 1.0 Version

It is commonly reported that Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and other variants are rare conditions. Data on the numbers of cases diagnosed are used to create rates among the general... Read more →

Three Summer Essentials from Nature

Summer brings heat and dryness that can be especially challenging to those with chronic illness and/or undergoing treatments and care processes. There are a few products that I've added to my personal lists of essentials for the summer. If you... Read more →

Job Description: Family Caregiver

The Health Affairs blog has an excellent post distinguishing between activities of daily living (ADLs)* and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)**. More importantly, A 21st Century Job Description for Family Caregiving explains why using either term in the context... Read more →

Summer Advice from 3 Experienced Caregivers

This guest post comes from Scott, Kristen and Patrick offer their experienced advice on some ways that people can step up to help the caregivers in your life rest, recharge, and maybe even relax. They are part of the Embracing... Read more →