I am doing a project and I would like some thoughtful information from yous.
What information would you like about drugs? Either when you have gotten a prescription (or child's), grabbed tylenol for a headache, or drunken too much coffee.
Who do you picture giving you this information? Dr. in lab coat, hippie with dreads telling you how "heady" it is, or college dude with thick glasses?
What questions about drugs do you have?
The more info the better.
6 comments:
Interesting question Jakeback. Let's see. I think we agree that people don't feel comfortable askign the pharmacist. One, it's in person, two, they don't know the guy, and three, there are probably people around.
I'm sure doctor is a common source, but a lot of people, including me, don't really have a regular doctor.
I think we agree that a web-site is a good idea. I'd like to see a separate cite for each drug, with a homepage that's easy to search.
I think side effects are a good place to start. I'd also like to hear stories, with little ratings. Maybe a scale of 0-5 of how much you like the drug, with a short description of why. This, I think, is what could separate your web-site from others. People would vote on the informativeness of these, so the best drug reviews float automatically to the top of the list.
Another thing that I've never seen before, and that I wouldn't necessary trust a doctor to answer, is the quality of generics. People want to know this I think.
On the homepage, I'd like to see a fun fact or two, something that changes. "Today's medical tip: 70% of American adults don't eat enough calcium." If there's a little animated doctor wearing a lab-coat, giving me this helpful information in a voice bubble, all the better.
You should get celebrity doctor Dr. Oz to promote our join this site. The easiest way to do this is give him a little bit of space, with a link on the homepage to "Dr. Oz's health tips." Maybe you advertise for his TV show on there in exchange. He's pretty cool actually, he gets a page in esquire every now and then and it's always useful. Unlike esquire's "ask nick sullivan" fashion page. Who wants to look like Nick Sullivan?
I think an iphone app, or droid app, would be another smooth way to get your name out. These should probably be free, or at least have a free version, as a way to get people to your cite.
I'd like to see a seal of approval somewhere on the site. This doesn't need to b the FDA, just something official looking so I can trust the info.
One key issue you face is targeting. Old people use the most pills, but they're the least interen-savvy. They'd be turned off by a fancy page, or any reviews of recreational usages of drugs. It will be a very different page dependign on whether you target people like us or people like grandma, and I think you'll probably have to choose one.
I'll close with a quote from a write-up of a study a Michigan doctor/research that I heard speak did:
"The researchers measured the extent to which patients’ reports agreed with their doctors’ records in four areas: diagnosis, emergency care that was given, post-ER care needs and what kinds of symptoms or signs would require the patient to return to the ER or seek immediate care.
Only 22 percent of patients’ reports were in complete harmony with what their care teams reported on all four counts.
Fifty-eight percent of patients understood at least two of the four areas, but 20 percent were off on three or four areas of their care and follow-up needs.
After asking patients about their diagnosis, care and post-ER instructions, the team also asked them if they were not sure about any of the four areas. Interestingly, patients whose understanding perfectly matched their doctors’ records were just as likely to report being unsure as patients whose understanding was lacking. "
Here's the link to that study:
http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=466
Here's what I'd like: some typical basic information on the package, and a link to a website with much more detailed information. And I don't want a link to a drug's website with all of the annoying promotions and testimonials.
Side effects is good to know easily. So is interactions with other drugs.
my usual question about drugs is, "hey, got any drugs?"
I hope this isn't too late for your project. Two things come to mind:
1) When they gave me hydrocodone for the shingles, it would have been good to have some information upfront about how to step it down, specifically about being able to reduce the dose and supplement with ibuprofen. With that information from the beginning, I would have been able to take advantage of a time when I could risk having bad pain, like when my parents were with me to watch Sean, so I could test it earlier and avoid those freaky, freaky dreams. As it was I had to wait for the pain to really subside before trying anything b/c I wasn't sure what to do. I finally asked the pharmacist at MIT for advice (I always ask pharmacists, even for little things, you get much more clear information that way).
2) For children's medications, is a half dose ever "worth it"? For example, if Sean has a stuffy nose and the beginnings of a sore throat, then I'm tempted to use vaporub, a humidifier, and half a dose of pain reliever for his throat (at bedtime). However, when he got sick on our cruise last year, the doctor said to just give him the whole dose so he gets the relief. Is that overkill? When I am at the beginning of a sore throat like that, I take one ibuprofen until it gets bad and then up it to two when it really hurts enough to keep me awake. Maybe it depends on the medication? Medicine for kids is confusing in general - it seems like less is more, but if they don't sleep they get worse, and its hard to find a balance.
my go to drug site is erowid.org. its surprisingly useful and ranges from advil to lsd. It also has pages where people can rate their experience and give tips(dose, frequency...). It is however geared towards psychoactives.
I would be happy to be a voice or whatever. While I have zero training and virtually zero knowledge of how these things work, I have a degree in chemistry, I work in a hospital, and I have long hair and am more or less for letting your body heal itself. These are qualities that may make the general public take my views as advice, not just hippy or sciency mumbo jumbo. Plus I'm fucking gorgeous.
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