Tom Dahlborg: Author and Patient Advocate

What can a healthcare advocate learn by becoming a patient facing a life-and-death situation?Why might a patient advocate write a book about his life-changing heart event? How does someone who has worked in the field of healthcare for 37 years see the field of healthcare changing to better suit the needs of patients?Thomas Dahlborg is from Brockton, Massachusetts. He began his career in healthcare as a transport aid, IV aid, and housekeeper where he saw firsthand the impact of relationships and connections within a healthcare system on clinicians and staff, and patients, families, and communities. He also has the experience of being a patient, when he developed viral myocarditis and was told he would never work again and would need a transplant.Now with 37 years of experience in healthcare service and leadership, Tom is passionate about improving the healthcare system and making healthcare better – for employees to work, physicians to practice medicine, patients and families to receive care, and communities to thrive. Last year, he published his healthcare book “From Heart to Head and Back Again … a journey through the healthcare system.”Today Tom lives with his bride Darlene, and their papillon Gabriel in West Michigan; and together they enjoy visiting their three children -- Samantha, Tommy Jr., and Haylee, in New England as often as possible.In this episode, Tom shares with Anna how his experience in the medical field and his own health journey spurred him into becoming an author and what his research has led him to believe about healthcare in general. Tom and Anna also turn their attention to the current healthcare crisis thanks to Covid-19. What does Tom feel about bullying given the world’s healthcare crisis right now? What does Tom feel all people need to do in order to be better consumers of healthcare? Tune in for the answers to these questions and much more!Links mentioned in this episode:Tom Dahlborg’s book (From Heart to Head and Back Again) and website: https://www.health-caring.org/Links to 'Heart to Heart with Anna' Social Media and Podcast Pages:Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/heart-to-heart-with-anna/id1132261435?mt=2MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/annajaworskiFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/HearttoHeartwithAnna/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hearttoheartwithanna/Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnaJaworskiYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGPKwIU5M_YOxvtWepFR5ZwWebsite: https://www.hug-podcastnetwork.com/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/HearttoHeart)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heart-to-heart-with-anna--1256958/support.