By Ashley McEvoy, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Medical Devices

Living through a pandemic has put the importance of staying healthy front and center. Health matters. And while many of us are concerned about our health now more than ever before, we are also postponing or delaying the care that can help us to stay healthy. 

More than 68 percent of Americans surveyed say they or someone in their household delayed or canceled their healthcare appointments, procedures or plans during the pandemic, according to a recent survey conducted in the U.S. with The Harris Poll on behalf of Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies. And although more than 75 percent felt confident that healthcare facilities can manage the risk of COVID-19, only approximately 30 percent felt their own procedure or surgery was a priority.¹

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been working with healthcare professionals to support them in providing safe and effective care for their patients and hearing their concerns that delaying care now could negatively impact patient health in the long term. That’s why I’m proud of our new My Health Can’t Wait initiative, an educational effort and resource hub to encourage patients to get the information they need to prioritize their health and pursue care with confidence.

On the website, www.myhealthcantwait.com, we’ve made resources available for patients and caregivers to help them explore options for routine and pre-/post-op care, including checklists, discussion guides, FAQs, patient stories and telehealth resources. We’re also providing resource materials to help strengthen communication between healthcare professionals and patients and caregivers, and enable hospitals to educate patients about the safety of their services.

We are committed to helping people live their healthiest lives, and that means helping them get the care they need, when they need it. The pandemic has brought many elements of our lives to a pause, but our health doesn’t have to be one of them. We hope that the resources available through My Health Can’t Wait will help answer important questions and help people feel empowered to make their health a priority—during this pandemic and beyond.  

Reference:

1. Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies Elective Surgery Survey.  Accessed August 4, 2020.  About the Survey: his survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of DePuy Synthes, part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, from July 9-13, 2020 among 2,016 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.