Why Doctors Need to Consult their Patients

B'SD

16 Tevet, 5779

One of the enduringly problematic aspects of medical and mental health care is that clinicians too often fail to heed the patient though WE are experts on what ails us! Medical and mental health professionals tend to dismiss that reality because THEY graduated from medical school, not us (not in every case, anyway).

The problem with that attitude is the condescension shown to and felt by patients. 

In the days before health care acts (affordable and unaffordable), some patients considered themselves the clients/bosses of medical and mental health professionals. We knew that we could hire and fire them at will. Insurance brutalities have changed that reality, however. These days, a person needs to be independently wealthy in order to choose only the medical staff members whom they desire on their team. Sometimes we're stuck with snobs in white uniforms, prescriptions pads and stethoscopes in hand.

Thanks to social change initiatives, the overall picture is improving somewhat. The casual mood and almost democratic participation on the Internet has allowed different points of view to be shared, understood, and heeded.

A few examples of that are presented below. As indicated in the EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book, I suggest that you share pro-patient content with your medical team. Alert the members to some realities that they need to comprehend in order to treat you in more optimal fashion.

Three Things Clinicians Should Know About Disability

Clinicians can practice disability humility by developing social understandings of disability. This can help clinicians improve communication and express respect for patients’ authority about their experiences.

journalofethics.ama-assn.org

So often, children are punished for being human. They are not allowed to have grumpy moods, bad days, disrespectful tones, or bad attitudes. Yet, we adults have them all the time. We must stop holding our children to a higher standard of perfection than we can attain ourselves.

CREATIVECHILD.COM

Punishing Children for Being Human

LIFEAFTERNF.BLOGSPOT.COM

Three MRI's and a funeral

(...oh, and a memorial gathering at my house for my dear friend Sabrina,…

“Despite my polite and respectful questioning of my doctors, I never had a treatment plan that addressed all my symptoms.”

Never Give Up; Serendipity and Passion Pega and Elusive Illness

Serendipity and passion help lead to diagnosis of elusive illness

A dermatologist’s distant memory of learning about a rare disease helped diagnose a mystery illness that left a woman nearly bedridden from debilitating pain for almost a year.

• PHYSICIAN
• 

  A patient waits. And waits.

The life lessons in the information above 
are about the clinician''s need to 
LISTEN TO AND HEED THE PATIENT!

We understand our medical issues 

with personal experience and insights 

that doctors need to know.

There's an entire chapter entitled

Listen to the Person Before You -
a Lesson for Caregivers

in

It starts on page 42.

Share it with your clinicians, just as the book directs ;^ D

As for people faced with life-altering changes in their health, appearance, and function: I remind myself and my life coaching clients (ill people who need to identify their priorities, then plan to meet their goals) that "This is my new 'normal.' I need to respect it and to work with it, NOT against it."

Want to cope with medical and/or mental health problems, including your need to see life in a helpful perspective? 

Find the help that you need in the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your conversations and perspective with pro-patient points of view.