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rivkaSomehow, after weeks of having plenty of things to do, but a fairly open schedule in which to do them, this week I've suddenly found myself with a long to-do list and a crowded schedule. I haven't even had time today to read the Washington Post while on the clock. (Talk about a fundamental infringement of my rights as an employee.)
Friday I'm giving a big presentation on patients' adherence to HIV medications, at the new clinic where I should start work Real Soon Now. So I spent most of the morning (and Wednesday and Thursday of last week, incidentally) entering and analyzing data about what patients understand about HIV disease and HIV medications - after all, you can only carry out your treatment successfully if you know what you're supposed to be doing, and why.
Unsurprisingly, knowledge is pretty spotty. Almost eveyone knows that there is no cure, that they can't stop taking meds just because their symptoms go away, that they need to be careful about transmission. Three-quarters of them know that they want their CD4+ (T-cell) count to be as high as possible, even if only a third could actually give their current CD4+ count within 50 points. But only about half knew that they wanted their viral load to be as low as possible, and less than 15% could even come close to giving their current viral load. Most of them didn't have any real understanding of why adherence is so important.
We're not doing a good enough job with education. *bemused headshake* At the same time, though, I know these things are explained to patients over and over. So it's more that the education we're doing isn't sinking in. I'm not sure I have any answers, but at least now we know where the gaps are.
So from HIV this morning to cancer this afternoon. After weeks and weeks of no GYN cancer patient interviews, I've got five lined up for the next four days. I need to do as many as possible by the end of the month, if I want to submit an abstract for the cancer treatment conference in October. Some of these women are really a joy to meet - like the one I spoke with today. She radiated positive energy - and she didn't seem to be squashing down her negative feelings, either. This project fascinates me. I know Lydia wants me to cut it back, given that it wasn't funded, but it stimulates me. The patients have really responded positively to being interviewed, too - it seems to be helpful for them just to talk about their feelings for a while, and to have some support from a neutral party. So I think it's worth doing a little free work.
This afternoon Sandra and I are meeting with some of the volunteers who have offered to do phone outreach for the colposcopy study. They'll be calling women who have had positive Pap tests and trying to increase the likelihood that those women will follow up with treatment. I'm supposed to be working on the phone script right now... so I suppose I'd better stop procrastinating. At least, if I'm going to have anything for Sandra by four.
So, off to the races...
Friday I'm giving a big presentation on patients' adherence to HIV medications, at the new clinic where I should start work Real Soon Now. So I spent most of the morning (and Wednesday and Thursday of last week, incidentally) entering and analyzing data about what patients understand about HIV disease and HIV medications - after all, you can only carry out your treatment successfully if you know what you're supposed to be doing, and why.
Unsurprisingly, knowledge is pretty spotty. Almost eveyone knows that there is no cure, that they can't stop taking meds just because their symptoms go away, that they need to be careful about transmission. Three-quarters of them know that they want their CD4+ (T-cell) count to be as high as possible, even if only a third could actually give their current CD4+ count within 50 points. But only about half knew that they wanted their viral load to be as low as possible, and less than 15% could even come close to giving their current viral load. Most of them didn't have any real understanding of why adherence is so important.
We're not doing a good enough job with education. *bemused headshake* At the same time, though, I know these things are explained to patients over and over. So it's more that the education we're doing isn't sinking in. I'm not sure I have any answers, but at least now we know where the gaps are.
So from HIV this morning to cancer this afternoon. After weeks and weeks of no GYN cancer patient interviews, I've got five lined up for the next four days. I need to do as many as possible by the end of the month, if I want to submit an abstract for the cancer treatment conference in October. Some of these women are really a joy to meet - like the one I spoke with today. She radiated positive energy - and she didn't seem to be squashing down her negative feelings, either. This project fascinates me. I know Lydia wants me to cut it back, given that it wasn't funded, but it stimulates me. The patients have really responded positively to being interviewed, too - it seems to be helpful for them just to talk about their feelings for a while, and to have some support from a neutral party. So I think it's worth doing a little free work.
This afternoon Sandra and I are meeting with some of the volunteers who have offered to do phone outreach for the colposcopy study. They'll be calling women who have had positive Pap tests and trying to increase the likelihood that those women will follow up with treatment. I'm supposed to be working on the phone script right now... so I suppose I'd better stop procrastinating. At least, if I'm going to have anything for Sandra by four.
So, off to the races...
