| Abstrakt: |
Abstract: Many consumers in today's society have increased access to information about health and medical care through books, videotapes, audiotapes, the Internet, and television programming. However, consumers often are excluded from involvement in health policy decision making because it is believed that they do not have the necessary expertise. In this paper, the following wilt be discussed: (1) the historic rote of consumer involvement in health policy decision making, (2) an overview of major barriers that consumers have encountered in health policy decision making, and (3) strategies for overcoming these barriers so that consumer empowerment can be enhanced when they serve on health policy panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
