Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Take As Directed is written by two health-care professionals (a family doctor and the President of the Hospital Pharmacists' Association) as a how-to guide to using the health care system in Canada. It is not a fix-it book on how to make the system better, simply a way to get the most timely care from the system the way it is. It might come as a surprise to most Americans, but Canada does not have a fully-funded health care system. For example, we have to pay for out own ambulance rides to the hospital. Many drugs are not covered by the medicare system, including most out-patient cancer drugs. Thus, this book gives tips on how to keep your wait times down and how to not get hit with hidden costs, as well as how to keep healthy and to use your health-care resources most efficiently. As such, the general reader in any liberal democracy will gain a lot of useful information from this book, not just readers in Canada (although, obviously, Canadians will get the most from this book).
The key thesis of the book is that the patient must take a level of responsibility for their own care. Use all the resources available - from the nursing staff to the pharmacist, don't just try to remember everything the doctor told you in a harried visit to the ER or a 10-minute appointment at a walk-in clinic. The authors also point out (as you might expect since one is a pharmacist) that medication error is one of the most common and preventable cause of an "adverse health-care event." Strategies are suggested for managing medication properly, from lists of online resources on medication to the advice to always carry an up-to-date list of medications in your wallet (in case you end up in the ER and can't remember all the medications you are taking).
The authors also let the readers in on the behind-the-scenes issues that can affect your health care. For example, how a diagnosis is made - if you have a rare condition, you might well be misdiagnosed upon your first visit to the doctor if your symptoms are the same as those for a more common ailment. Another issue is the fact that health-care records are the property of the hospital or family doctor who treated the patient, and there is no place where all these records are combined (except at the family doctor's office, and then they may be several months out of date if you've had after-hour visits to a walk-in clinic or hospital). As primitive as it seems, records are still on paper, and mailed by Canada Post between health-care providers! Thus, the onus is on the patient to make sure their newest prescriptions/treatments are communicated to the attending physician, whoever that may be.
The book is easy to read, modular, and even contains some humour (mostly of the cheesy kind, but welcome all the same!). Because it's modular, it's easy to navigate and you can concentrate on chapters dealing with your specific situation (hospital admission, new prescriptions, a regular check-up visit to your family physician). The downside is that it tends to be repetative (the suggestion to carry your up-to-date medication list in your pocket is made perhaps 8 or 10 times!). But overall, this is a very useful book for anyone, but especially Canadians, trying to make the best of a bad situation if they are faced with a health problem.
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A detailed account of how to navigate Canada's health care system-especially in relation to medication safety-this is a firsthand description of the inner workings of the nation's doctor's offices, pharmacies, hospitals, and more. This definitive resource outlines the current situation; identifies key safety and efficacy issues; proposes a means for helping patients each step of the way; and offers information on programs, tools, and techniques available to them.
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