Why we believe
“Everybody Needs A Hippo”
can make a difference?
WHY?
“Everybody Needs A Hippo” is an under-the -radar, 20-minute read with lots of cartoons. It was written to help develop a humanistic approach to patient-doctor relationships. The illustrated story takes the reader through a realistic medical experience and shows the reader how to be seen and heard by their medical providers without causing the doctor additional economic or emotional cost.
We believe a major cause of pain and agony in the medical profession is placing the burden of deciding what is important for the patient on the doctors. All the studies that have taken place on shared decision making and collaboration have proven that joint decisions, no matter what is decided, ends up with a much favorable medical result (fewer mysteries, less stress, reduced litigation, both parties being seen and heard, and the removal of the “God as Doctor” neurosis.
The patient must be the party that determines how much they want to gamble with their quality of life. Only the patient will know if a diminished life is better than death. If one were to lose their vision at 20, they would be much more able to deal with the learning curve than if they lost it at 70. But at least, it would be the patient's decision and they wouldn’t be angry at their doctor for the unpleasant surprise of losing their vision. Let’s remove the doctor from that decision. Let’s remove the burden of the doctor playing God.
It’s close to impossible to find reliable medical information that pertains to your unique medical situation. Most doctors will provide answers in the “average” category and googling only provides greater confusion. Our book demonstrates a way to get unique answers to your unique medical condition. It’s that simple!
All we are doing is helping the doctors and patients make better decisions by understanding the realities of the situation. Currently doctors make the decisions for the patients without knowing virtually anything about their patients. That is not honoring clinical distancing, that’s ignoring the humanity of the patient. Our simple Your Dag Chart” helps the doctor understand the patient without emotional or time expense. That’s huge.
“Everybody Needs A Hippo” is an under-the -radar, 20-minute read with lots of cartoons. It was written to help develop a humanistic approach to patient-doctor relationships. The illustrated story takes the reader through a realistic medical experience and shows the reader how to be seen and heard by their medical providers without causing the doctor additional economic or emotional cost.
We believe a major cause of pain and agony in the medical profession is placing the burden of deciding what is important for the patient on the doctors. All the studies that have taken place on shared decision making and collaboration have proven that joint decisions, no matter what is decided, ends up with a much favorable medical result (fewer mysteries, less stress, reduced litigation, both parties being seen and heard, and the removal of the “God as Doctor” neurosis.
The patient must be the party that determines how much they want to gamble with their quality of life. Only the patient will know if a diminished life is better than death. If one were to lose their vision at 20, they would be much more able to deal with the learning curve than if they lost it at 70. But at least, it would be the patient's decision and they wouldn’t be angry at their doctor for the unpleasant surprise of losing their vision. Let’s remove the doctor from that decision. Let’s remove the burden of the doctor playing God.
It’s close to impossible to find reliable medical information that pertains to your unique medical situation. Most doctors will provide answers in the “average” category and googling only provides greater confusion. Our book demonstrates a way to get unique answers to your unique medical condition. It’s that simple!
All we are doing is helping the doctors and patients make better decisions by understanding the realities of the situation. Currently doctors make the decisions for the patients without knowing virtually anything about their patients. That is not honoring clinical distancing, that’s ignoring the humanity of the patient. Our simple Your Dag Chart” helps the doctor understand the patient without emotional or time expense. That’s huge.
Simple, direct, and honorable.
We help people become proactive in their life-plans by helping them
insert their personalities into their medical prognoses.
There comes a time when everyone experiences a life and death situation and can easily become overwhelmed. As soon as we hear the words Cancer, MS, stroke, heart disease, or accident, life suddenly takes on new meaning for everyone involved. In many cases, our cognitive functioning becomes paralyzed with fear. At these disastrous times, all we can think about is staying alive. Our minds freeze and we are in the zone of fear.
A recent medical study from Stanford has shown that over 90% of emergency room doctors would not accept the "sustaining life" treatment plans that they routinely prescribe for their end of life patients. They have witnessed the "warehousing" of patients who are kept living by ventilators, catheters, and feeding tubes.
Why?
"Doctors must come out from behind our technologies and catheters. With medicine's heightened focus on technology, physicians have allowed our communication skills to atrophy. But doctors owe patients critical information in order for them to retain both the autonomy and the dignity they deserve." Wired Magazine, 4,18,2017.
Supporting Champions is dedicated to helping people cope and communicate in the most stressful of situations, so they can make clear and knowledgeable decisions and understand the ramifications of those decisions.
There are palliative movements all across the world to deal with this evolutionary phenomenon. The discussions and books began some twenty years ago, but the current buzz began with the publishing of Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal”. Gawande’s book, after sweeping the medical world is now on the New York Times best seller list. Large medical providers such as Kaiser and Sutter are changing the way they communicate with terminal patients. They are beginning to offer the option of long term palliative care, allowing people to reduce suffering, live better, live longer, and experience less medical cost than with traditional medical treatments.
Ellen Goodman, the Pulitzer winner, has created her “Conversation Project” and has had over 300,000 people download her conversation starter kit. Organizations such as the “Compliance and Regulatory Leadership for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association are but a few to carry the message.
A recent medical study from Stanford has shown that over 90% of emergency room doctors would not accept the "sustaining life" treatment plans that they routinely prescribe for their end of life patients. They have witnessed the "warehousing" of patients who are kept living by ventilators, catheters, and feeding tubes.
Why?
"Doctors must come out from behind our technologies and catheters. With medicine's heightened focus on technology, physicians have allowed our communication skills to atrophy. But doctors owe patients critical information in order for them to retain both the autonomy and the dignity they deserve." Wired Magazine, 4,18,2017.
Supporting Champions is dedicated to helping people cope and communicate in the most stressful of situations, so they can make clear and knowledgeable decisions and understand the ramifications of those decisions.
There are palliative movements all across the world to deal with this evolutionary phenomenon. The discussions and books began some twenty years ago, but the current buzz began with the publishing of Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal”. Gawande’s book, after sweeping the medical world is now on the New York Times best seller list. Large medical providers such as Kaiser and Sutter are changing the way they communicate with terminal patients. They are beginning to offer the option of long term palliative care, allowing people to reduce suffering, live better, live longer, and experience less medical cost than with traditional medical treatments.
Ellen Goodman, the Pulitzer winner, has created her “Conversation Project” and has had over 300,000 people download her conversation starter kit. Organizations such as the “Compliance and Regulatory Leadership for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association are but a few to carry the message.
Dag Advocacy
There are 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day. Many of these people will be entering into the retirement world. A new growing field is developing to help these seniors find a new life in retirement. Project Dag offers a new and rewarding professional activity for this audience by training them to become Dag Champions.
These Champions learn how to help others chart out their personalities onto "Your Dag Chart" and begin inserting their personalities into their prognoses. By guiding each potential patient into understanding and appreciating the very personal values that make their lives significant to their quality of life, they can then present these traits to their medical providers and think about how the various treatment plans will affect their lives.
The Champions will be trained over computers and tested and if successful, licensed to provide these services.
Community by community, state by state, and across the nation . . .