Pittsburgh, November 7, 2016 -- Nitin Agarwal, MD, third-year neurological surgery resident at the University of Pittsburgh, is co-editor of the newly released book, The Evolution of Health Literacy: Empowering Patients through Improved Education, published by Nova Science Publishers.
According to the publisher’s website, “Physicians have long pledged to adhere to four basic moral principles, a concise framework for the larger field of medical ethics. As is commonly known, those values consist of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. However, in order to advocate for these principles for patients, medical professionals must first ensure patients have appropriate medical resources from which to glean information. This book serves to underscore this concept and advance the field of patient education.”
Ongoing research efforts, supported by The Beckwith Institute, focus on improving the content and delivery of UPMC patient education materials so patients can participate in shared decision making with a better understanding of disease processes and necessary treatments. Secondary aims strive to identify the best way to educate patients about specific diseases and then create an optimized teaching protocol for physicians to follow.
David R. Hansberry, MD, PhD, a second-year resident with the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Department of Radiology in Philadelphia, and Arpan Vaikunth Prabhu, a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, are co-editors of the book