A doctor and a stroke survivor reflect on the Cochrane evidence about giving people information after stroke and on their own experiences.
Patient Experience
Making health decisions: things that can help
In a blog for anyone making health decisions, Sarah Chapman looks at some key things that can help you make a choice that feels right for you. Included here are links to good resources.
PTSD: remembering and recovering with EMDR
Sandra shares her experience of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and how treatment with EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) helped, and we include sources of information and support for people with PTSD.
Decision aids: helping people make better healthcare choices
How decision aids can help people make better choices about treatments.
Bell’s palsy: facing up to uncertainty
What would you do if you woke up unable to move half your face? This blog shares Olivia's story, the challenges of Bell's palsy & what we know about treatments
My OCD journey 2: learning and compassion in tough times
In this blog, Karen Morley, who in 2018 wrote for Evidently Cochrane about her experiences of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and how evidence helped her, tells us what has happened since, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on her mental health, the challenges, and things she has found empowering.
Putting positive experiences at the centre of postnatal care
A new WHO guideline on postnatal care puts a positive experience at the heart of the care that women and their babies receive in the first six weeks after birth. It recognises that care should go beyond the mere delivery of certain services. Good postnatal care should aim to meet every individual woman’s needs, leaving all new parents, the baby and family with a positive experience of this critical period in their lives.
Vasodilators for Raynaud’s Phenomenon
In this blog for people with Raynaud’s phenomenon, Dr Kevin Su, a Rheumatologist from Australia, looks at the latest Cochrane evidence on vasodilator drugs for Primary Raynaud’s phenomenon. Katie LeBlanc, a patient advocate, reflects on her experiences.
Developmental Language Disorder: reflections as a mum and speech and language therapist
After her son was diagnosed with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Genna White became a Speech and Language Therapist to help families like her own. In this blog, Genna reflects on what DLD is and what she’d like parents, healthcare workers, and others working with children to know.
Becoming a Cochrane Review author: trust me, I’m a patient!
Karen Morley reflects on her experience of becoming a consumer author on a Cochrane Review, using her lived experience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and considers the questions it raised for her about Public Involvement in research.
Glioblastoma: honest conversations for shared decision-making
Peter Buckle, a patient advocate whose wife died of glioblastoma, and Professor Scott Murray, GP and palliative care innovator, call for honest communication between health professionals and people with glioblastoma and their families, enabling shared decision-making and planning, with a focus on quality of life. They give sources of information and support for patients and families, and practical suggestions for clinicians.
Language matters: the use and misuse of language when talking about long-term conditions
This blog summarises a conversation hosted on Twitter by Cochrane UK, inviting views on the use and misuse of language when talking about long-term conditions.