Posted by Ron Hill on March 14, 2003, at 16:11:11
Dr. Bob,
I've had this idea for a while, so I'll write it down on virtual paper (pronounced costly sever space). I'm sure it's not an original idea, but here goes. I offer it only as an idea. It might not be possible to implement this for a variety of reasons.
We pbabble participants could better help one another if we had ready access to each others dx history and medication history. I have trouble keeping this type of information straight in my mind even for the handful of participants with whom I regularly communicate. Therefore, I find myself repeatedly asking, and being asked, for the dx and Rx history.
What if we had a "Participant's dx/Rx Biography" board? Each participant would have the option of submitting a post wherein he or she could (at their choosing) provide their dx and Rx history including lessons learned along the way.
Logistically, one method might be to allot each participant one post that he or she could edit and/or update periodically. However, this would require an “edit and replace” function not currently used on this site. Obviously, only the individual participant would be allowed to write in his or her biography and all others would have read-only access.
Alternatively, each poster could be allotted their own thread, whereby, updates could be accomplished by merely adding a post to the respective thread. One complication of this approach would be that only the individual participant would be allowed to post to his or her biography thread and all others would have read-only access.
The downside includes the additional sever space required, the additional administrative oversight that would be required, and the start-up costs. On the upside, I would be able to check the respective biography before I reply to a poster and, thereby, hopefully provide better information. Also, the bio board would alleviate the need for me to reiterate over and over again my own dx/Rx information. Instead, I could merely provide the link to my biography.
Further refinements could include the option to post one small picture in each bio, and to sort the bio entries according to dx. The latter would facilitate the opportunity for someone to peruse the biographies within a particular dx category to see what has worked for people with that particular disorder. Comorbid disorders throw a small monkey wrench in the categorization process, but this could be worked out.
It might be neccessary to place limits on the number of allowable words so that the biography does not turn into a diary.
Just bouncing ideas around. Any thoughts?
-- Ron
poster:Ron Hill
thread:209135
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20030221/msgs/209135.html