Keeping Healthy By Keeping Track
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-03-20 11:22:49.302463-05:00
Want to take charge of your health? Keep tabs on your medical records
Do we take better care of our cars than our bodies? This may seem like an odd question, but author Laura Messinger makes a telling comparison. "We all keep our car maintenance manual in the glove compartment," said Messinger. "But where do we keep our body maintenance manual - if we happen to have one? And if we do, does anybody else know where it is?"
Messinger, 59, and co-author Lillian Shah, 72, have created such a manual with their new book, Keeping Healthy by Keeping Track: A Complete Guide to Maintaining Your Own Medical Records.
The two, both hailing from Wilmington, were inspired to pull together their "red notebook" after acting as caregivers for their terminally ill mothers and elder sisters. Three years ago while talking about their mutual frustrations with doctors, hospitals, insurance providers, and their disheartening efforts to gather and organize crucial information, they realized both had been thinking of the serious need for a comprehensive system of maintaining one's own medical records at home.
Their mutual concerns about the state of health care in America also led them to become Delaware's first "Voices for Change," a new AARP project in which members talk about their health care and financial security concerns.
Neither one makes any claim to having any medical training, although physicians and nurses and others in the field have provided expertise and guidance in the creation of their resource book, which includes over 75 charts to document an individual's medical history. The records, which include vital emergency information, current health status, family history, office visit forms, medications lists, lab and test results, hospitalization records and insurance, financial and legal information are all simple and easy-to-use.
"What would you do if you showed up at your doctor's office for a visit and he wasn't there? He wasn't just out for an emergency call - or late for your appointment - his office just wasn't there anymore. No forwarding address, no contact information, no record of where he moved to, nothing. You no longer had any medical history -- no files, no records of thousands of dollars worth of tests, no refills for your prescription drugs. And to compound matters, what if you didn't have medical insurance?" Shah asked recalling one of the many stories she heard while promoting the book. "Imagine being that young man -- knowing that you had a major health issue, but that you would be starting from scratch."
"The general rule - that it is always better to really know than to guess - is especially true when it comes to health," Messinger summarized. "Accurate record keeping makes us better informed, increases our own empowerment as patients, and enables us to forge a strong partnership with those we turn to in caring for our own health and the health of those we love."
Keeping Healthy By Keeping Track is available at Barnes & Noble bookstores and online.
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