But Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

Here's more, this time from Respectful Insolence, on the lack of evidence that patient satisfaction is the best measure for health care, since the most satisfied patients do not necessarily have the best health outcomes.

Sadly, it appears that getting what we want, medically (tests, specific drugs), is not always the best thing for us.

Hm. It feels like a touchy subject, because nobody wants "just shut up and do as your doctor tells you" to be the right answer. Especially not medical librarians with our "here, let me show you how to locate reputable consumer health information, which will be totally the coolest thing you'll do all day!"

I think that the problem is partly the concern about that attitude, which of course ideally would not be the presentation at all. If it's more like "here's what I think is the best approach for your situation, and here's why," then it's less of an issue to take the advice of an expert.

But then we have all the problems with physicians not having time to actually talk to people and explain what they think is the best approach and why, so you probably do get patient-dissatisfying dismissals of concerns or requests for test that may be entirely worth dismissing, but the approach is just wrong...

Like so many things in life, it's really a lot about interpersonal dynamics, isn't it?

Say Yes to Drugs

If you wanted a quick summary on drug-resistant bacteria, there's a nice one on Skepchick. The post talks about research in antibiotics, how drugs develop resistance to them, and potential new areas for exploration.

It also notes that "We are basically in a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ relationship with bacteria. We develop new drugs and they evolve."

This makes the whole process sound a bit futile and depressing, but I suppose if the alternative is to just shrug and drop dead from bacterial infections...well, keep up the good work with that research!

Also, don't go around taking antibiotics for viral infections, and if you have a prescription for antibiotics, take all of them as directed. Do your part to resist drug-resistance!

Less Drama Than Expected

So being a vampire never did much for me in Oblivion--I just stopped sleeping, pretty much, and the negative effects were minimal--and it's turning out that being a werewolf isn't doing much in Skyrim, other than (conveniently!) preventing me from ever catching any of the weird diseases that abound, like 'rockjoint.'

It's true! Beast Blood makes you immune to everything. For that reason alone, I think werewolfhood has been good for me, although honestly I never remember to use my power and actually turn into a wolf, so I'm missing out on a lot of excitement.

I should also explain, though, that I have the good kind of werewolfiness, where I don't change form uncontrollably with the full moons (how does that work with two moons, come to think of it?) and kill everyone around me.

I can change any time I want! And only when I want!

But I like my greatsword and heavy armor so much, it just never occurs to me to turn into a wolf and maul enemies with my bare teeth. So yeah, I kind of expected the life of the werewolf to put more demands on me, but what can you do? I guess the pack isn't into hassling people.

Sadly Unperpetual Access

I always feel bad when I have to tell students that no, they can't keep getting awesome access to all our subscription-based electronic journals and databases after they graduate.

I mean, unless they want to come into the library to use our computers, which alums may always do, but if they move across the country or something it's not going to be that helpful an option.

I feel their pain. I love having access to all these databases! I don't even use them that often, not for personal use anyway, but it's just nice to know they're there. It's comforting.

Like a healthy savings account! Of information!

I was prematurely nostalgic for the University of Alabama's databases as soon as I started library school. "I'm going to miss these so much after I graduate!" I said mournfully.

"You're going to be working in a library after you graduate," my spouse pointed out reasonably. "You'll have access to databases that way."

Oh yeah. Sweet!

And so I do. And believe me, it's awesome.

This whole post pretty much proves that I should never not be a librarian, doesn't it?

Whatever You Say, Doc

Hmm. Skeptical Scalpel (via Grunt Doc) writes about a paper from the Archives of Internal Medicine that suggests that people who are more satisfied with their doctors have higher mortality rates than those who are less satisfied.

The post suggests that this is because people tend to be more satisfied when their doctor does what they want (like prescribing the medication they ask for), even if this is not necessarily the best course, medically. So maybe people are asking for drugs they see on TV, or whatever, and the doctor wants the patient to be happy and prescribes it, even if some other treatment might better control the condition.

There are interesting questions to ponder here about paternalism vs. patient involvement in care, and how well patients can expect to understand the fine points of treatment, and how much physicians should try to please their patients as opposed to sternly laying "doctor's orders" if their judgment indicates (but if your patients don't like you and leave to find someone who will give them the prescription they want, what good have you really done?).

I mean, we want people to understand their health and be involved with their medical treatment and so forth. At least, we do as librarians. Consumer health information! Why do we promote it if not to get people engaged?

And yet, no matter how much we read up on things, we still don't necessarily have a grasp on all the details and the background and the complicating factors, and there are times when we may do well to assume that our doctors understand it better than we do and trust to their judgment.

The paper is here, and I'll have to read it sometime, but right now I have to go to bed more than study.

Maybe Just Change the Mascot Already

A strongly written couple of posts on the Native Appropriations blog basically just completely explain why we should probably back off the whole "Indians as Team Mascots" thing.

I mean, those of us who were ever on that thing. I have never felt any attachment to a team with a problematic mascot, so I suppose it's easy for me to say.

But look, people who are in a better position than I am to speak on such things say that something is hurtful and offensive. With science! Is this thing really so important that it's worth knowingly continuing to hurt and offend people, or can we just drop it? (I know, I know. The answer in many cases apparently is, "it's totally worth it! Yay team!")

I'd like to point out, though, that it could be a nice boost to the economy if all these schools hire designers and stuff to make new mascots. And promote new mascots! And sew new mascot costumes!

Jobs could be created here.

Since the basic idea of the mascot is to present a terrifying face to one's opponents, I recommend that these schools pick from among the popular monsters of today, like zombies, sexy vampires, deadly viruses, and of course killer robots.

And in answer to the plaintive cry of "but where do we draw the line on what's offensive? How do we know zombies aren't offended?" I will merely say that classic zombies aren't offended by anything, duh, but if any do come forward to protest their mascotization, we should of course take their concerns seriously.

Right after beheading them and setting them on fire to make sure they don't get our brains. Safety first.

Let's Play

I suppose we can't really claim this (via Geek Feminism) as unshakeable evidence for the beneficial powers of gaming, but we can certainly applaud and wish this 100-year-old woman much joy of her Nintendo DS.

Her gaming collection is reported to be, "mostly built around puzzle solving, along with titles that calls upon a player's artistic abilities, like "Art Academy." We also see her interacting with "Pictochat," so Kit uses her DS as a communication tool as well."

These aren't the games I tend to play, so I guess even if this were evidence of the beneficial powers of her games, it wouldn't say anything about games where you wander around getting in fights and looting bodies, but as long as we're applauding, we might as well lump all games together and applaud them equally.