Patient Power: The Smart Patient's Guide to Health Care (Heritage)

Smart patients don’t just know about health and illness – they’ve got a handle on the health care system and know how to make it work for them. In Patient Power!, two health professional give you the low-down on who is involved, what they should not do, and what happens.
Patricia and Arthur Parsons break down the health care system into three areas: the people, the process, and the results. ‘The People’ introduces you to a whole cast of characters: doctors, nurses, technical people, allied health professionals, and some of the people who offer alternative approaches to health care, explaining what each of these professionals does and the language they use.  ‘The Process’ demystifies common diagnostic tests, how drugs are prescribed, high tech medical equipment, and what happens in the operating room after you go to sleep. ‘The Results; gives you an insider’s view on issues such as medical ethics, overuse of the system, social problems that have been made into medical problems, and having a ‘smart’ death.
Entertaining, informative, and easy to read, Patient Power! will give you the power to control what happens to you in the health care system.

Patricia J. Parsons is Professor of Communication Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.


ARTHUR PARSONS is a family physician in Halifax. The Parsons are co-authors of three previous books including Hippocrates Now! Is Your Doctor Ethical