Navigating Health Shared Communities

Question six, what can a healthcare community do to help me? I think the nice thing about the health shared communities is that it is made up of patients, patient groups and patient advocate groups, organisations that are very aware of the disease processes particularly in their communities. Healthcare professionals who are experts in their field in those communities and it's the ability to be able to talk to any of those people trying to work out who is best to give you advice, knowing that it can come from any of those stakeholder groups. It doesn't have to be the advice only given by a healthcare professional. People who have suffered with a chronic condition for many, many years often have the best tips and tricks. And I think that's what the HealthShare community can give people joining them. They can tell them what's helped them, what's motivated them, what the challenges that they've faced and how they've overcome them. them and a community of people who are aware of the condition, who are just like you, would want to help you in every way because they too are suffering the same issues and who you may be able to give advice to and it's that whole rounded approach of appreciating what there is out there, there, getting the advice you need, sometimes because you aren't able to get advice by going to a GP or a healthcare professional inside a hospital where you've only been given 10 or 15 minutes for an appointment, where you have more time to ask the questions, the questions that you may have had answered may lead on to more questions, and you're able to ask those in your own time, mull over them, think about what it is that you're trying to get out of it and do it in a way that suits you, in a time that suits you, and that I think is what Health Shared is all about.