Thanks and how SM helps caregivers

Thanks.  To everyone.  I’m back in Richmond after spending one of the worst weeks of my life in Florida.  My dad had two surgeries (one on his leg, one open heart) and while he is still struggling with post-op issues and a lingering MRSA infection, things seem to be getting better every day.

As many know, I was giving daily updates on my Facebook status and on Twitter.  For some of you, this might have seemed a little self serving, but it proved to be very therapeutic for me and it also led to hundreds of good wishes and prayers.

I am also convinced that it saved me a great deal of time from having to communicate with many folks individually.  I also found texting and IMing from by Blackberry as a valauable way to stay in touch with well-wishers and business associates and friends.

This is contrasted with the experience of my stepmother Irma.  She was inundated with calls from relatives and friends who while they meant well invariably called at the wrong time, left long messages, and expected her to “keep them posted.”

I don’t know about you, but the last thing you have the strength or patience for when you are in that situation is at the end of the day having to call a whole bunch of people and telling them the same thing over and over again.

In recent weeks, our friend and client Matt Smith of Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance lived through health issues with his newborn son.  He too has been updating folks on Facebook and has been using an online tool/website/blog provided by the hospital to update people in real time.  He says this tool has also been a blessing in his situation.

I have a number of fellow Twitterers in the healthcare space and urge them to plow resources into online tools for friends and families of those being cared for at their facilities.  This is a great time and patience saver for all involved.

Jon Newman

In 2002 Jon cofounded The Hodges Partnership and has helped to grow it into one of the country’s largest public relations firms (based on O’Dwyer’s annual rankings). Jon has taught communications as an adjunct professor at VCU, speaks regularly at conferences and meetings and blogs and tweets about public relations and marketing issues.

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