Free Online Tool From HHS to Collect Family HX
#18,962
One of the perils of blogging for two decades is that over time embedded links to outside sources no longer function. The past couple of years have been particularly bad following major upgrades/revamping of both the CDC and WHO websites, where even some of their internal links go nowhere.
Normally, the day before Thanksgiving I repost my annual `Thanksgiving Is National Family History Day' blog, with links and quotes from the CDC, the HHS, and the Office of the Surgeon General.Since 2023, some of those links (here & here) have gone missing, although the CDC retains an abbreviated version at https://www.cdc.gov/family-health-history/
So, starting over . . .
Every year since 2004 the Surgeon General of the United States has declared Thanksgiving – a day when families traditionally gather together - as National Family History Day, since it provides an excellent opportunity to ask about and document the medical history of relatives.
As a former paramedic, I am keenly aware of how important it is for everyone to know and have access to their personal and family medical history.
During routine visits with your doctor, knowing your family history can provide important information regarding your care. Under more urgent conditions, emergency room doctors are often faced with patients unable to remember or relay their health history, current medications, or even drug allergies during a medical crisis.Which is why I always keep an EMERGENCY MEDICAL HISTORY CARD – filled out and frequently updated – in my wallet, and have urged (and have helped) others in my family to do the same.
I addressed this issue at some length in a 2009 blog called Those Who Forget Their History . . . . A few excerpts (but follow the link to read the whole thing):
Since you can’t always know, in advance when you might need medical care it is important to carry with you some kind of medical history at all times. It can tell doctors important information about your history, medications, and allergies when you can’t.
Many hospitals and pharmacies provide – either free, or for a very nominal sum – folding wallet medical history forms with a plastic sleeve to protect them. Alternatively, there are templates available online.
I’ve scanned the one offered by one of our local hospitals below. It is rudimentary, but covers the basics.
Since family gatherings are common over the holidays, Thanksgiving can be an ideal time to ask family members about their medical history. The HHS even provides a free, online tool, for organizing and storing this information.
The CDC's website contains additional information, including:
Family Health History and Adults
Key points
- If you have a family health history of a chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, you are more likely to get that disease yourself.
- Knowing your family health history risk can help you—if you act on it.
- Share your family health history with your healthcare provider, who can help you take steps to prevent disease and catch it early if it develops.
- Finding disease early can often mean better health in the long run.
And lastly, a couple of other items that - while not exactly a medical history - may merit discussion in your family as it has in mine (see 2012's His Bags Are Packed, He’s Ready To Go).
- First, all adults should consider having a Living Will that specifies what types of medical treatment you would desire should you become incapacitated, and unable to communicate your wishes.
- While not a `legal document' the CDC also provides a `Complete Care Plan' PDF tool for managing day-to-day care.
- You may also wish to consider assigning someone as your Health Care Proxy, who can make decisions regarding your treatment should you be unable to do so for yourself.
- Elderly family members with chronic health problems, or those with terminal illnesses, may even desire a home DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) Order.
- Without legal documentation, verbal instructions by family members – even if the patient is in the last stages of an incurable illness – are likely to be ignored by emergency personnel.
While admittedly, not the cheeriest topic of conversation in the world, a few minutes spent during this Thanksgiving holiday putting together concise written medical histories could spare you and your family a great deal of anguish down the road.
