Hernia care through patient eyes
As surgeons, you know how to surgically repair a patient’s hernia, but do you actually understand hernia and all the complex issues patients experience with this condition?
Do you know that there are many potential benefits of patient involvement in hernia societies, which can include a greater understanding of the needs of patients, leading to better outcomes of care and improvements in hernia surgery?
Do you know PROMS that are important to patients? Patient participation can lead to improved communication between the society and patients as they feel confident that their voices are heard and understood, which creates a higher level of trust and confidence.
Patient participation within hernia societies means a greater ownership of how hernia surgery is delivered, and a stronger understanding of how and where it needs to change and develop.
The European Hernia Society’s patient advisory committee is available to discuss how we can support you and your society. Our unique Facebook Support Group will also support your patients on their hernia journey, run by patients and supported by surgeons. This group is an ideal private forum.
All of us within the European Hernia Society patient committee are hernia patients; some of us have had surgery, some are waiting for surgery, and some live with a hernia and its challenges. We all come together to use our experience to help others. As patients, we have lived experience. We understand hernia in a way that the surgeons don’t if they have not personally been through hernia surgery. We are here to share our experiences to help others.
Our friendly patient group has been involved in research projects, in creating surgical guidelines, in developing patient information for the EHS website and in supporting the Facebook Hernia Patient Support Group. As patients, we can see where surgeons need to develop a greater understanding of the needs of patients, leading to better outcomes of care and improvements in hernia surgery. As patient representatives, we can improve communications between the society and patients as they feel confident that their voices are heard and understood, which creates a higher level of trust and confidence.
Some of the patient committee will be present at the upcoming conference in Paris, and we look forward to meeting you to discuss how we can help support you and your patients.
