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Ordering
The Blissful Brain
The Blissful Brain is published
by Gaia Thinking. For more information on how to order your
copy, please click
here.
Guardian
G2: Mind over matter by Andy Darling
"Neuroscientist Shanida Nataraja has
proven meditation does more than clear your head, it can put
both halves of your brain to work, improving your concentration,
memory, and decision-making...". To read more, please
click
here.
Upcoming
talk: Yoga Ananda, Reigate, Surrey on Friday the 4th of June
Shanida Nataraja will be speaking at a seminar
on The Blissful Brain on Friday, 04th June 2010 at
19:30 at Yoga Ananda Ltd. 46 Albert Road North, Reigate, Surrey,
RH2 9EL. For more information, please click
here.
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Multidisciplinary
Approach
The
management of many diseases now involves a multi-disciplinary
team (MDT) approach. As our understanding of diseases and
their appropriate treatment has deepened, it has become increasingly
clear that in order to tackle these diseases effectively,
a multi-pronged approach is needed. This is perhaps most evident
in the area of oncology.
In recent years, many different treatments have become available.
Patients are now likely to receive a combination of surgery,
radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, and treatment plans therefore
need to be tailored to suit the needs of the individual patient.
On diagnosis, the patient will meet with all the members of
the MDT to discuss their condition and possible treatment
options. In the case of a cancer patient, this team will include
a medical oncologist, surgeon, pharmacist, and pathologist,
as well as specialist nurses, psychologists, palliative care
specialists, and the patient’s primary care provider. The
patient is included in all decisions about their treatment
and benefits from the expertise of a large number of different
specialties.
The
patient is therefore placed at the centre of the decision-making
process and regains control over their body and the management
of their disease; this empowers the patient rather than making
them feel helpless and powerless. Furthermore, as conventional
healthcare systems are struggling under the demand for medical
care, lifestyle modification is also slowly being acknowledged
to be a crucial component of disease prevention and management.
It is no longer viewed as “good practice” to merely prescribe
a medication and discharge the patient. Patients are now increasing
being offered (or at least advised to seek out) a variety
of different supportive treatments, including stress-reduction
management, dietary modification, and psychological counselling.
The primary aim of the MDT approach is to improve the standard
of care offered to individual patients. By drawing on the
expertise of a wide range of different specialists early on
in the treatment pathway for a particular patient, the optimal
treatment approach can be devised for that patient. Furthermore,
certain conditions, such as hypertension, can often be the
result of an underlying disease process. The MDT approach
ensures that all appropriate disciplines are recruited into
patient management in a timely fashion and that, therefore,
the underlying disease process is tackled early on, as well
as the presenting condition. The MDT approach also improves
communication between these different specialities, which
further drives the standard of care offered to patients. Not
only does an MDT approach give rise to greater levels of patient
satisfaction with their treatment, but it also has been reported
to often improve patient outcomes.
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