Here are some of those lessons:
1. Be respectful of your providers, and expect their respect in return.
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Early on, we learned to be polite and to stick up for ourselves. The same holds true for working with our healthcare providers.
It’s important to be respectful of their education and abilities. That means we listen carefully to what they tell us and take advantage of their knowledge.
It's also wise, though, not to respect them to the point where you discount your own gut feelings, intuition or knowledge of your own body.
Learn to communicate well with your provider to create a good partnership, a key aspect of getting the healthcare you deserve.
2. Make friends.
Whether in the classroom or on the playground, having a group of friends to lean on was important in the good times and the bad. That’s true for our healthcare too.
When you have a medical challenge, find others with similar challenges and get to know them. Share information among you, perhaps through online support groups, in-person support groups or even here in the Patient Empowerment forum. It’s helpful to you all.
3. Be honest and take responsibility.
Who doesn’t remember getting in trouble for some childhood indiscretion? We learned then that being truthful got us in to less trouble than if we tried to cover it up. The same goes for our healthcare decisions.
Be honest with your doctor. Take responsibility for your actions. He can’t help you if you pretend you are doing one thing when reality shows otherwise.
4. Follow directions.
This goes hand-in-hand with taking responsibility. When you and your doctor have agreed on a treatment plan, comply with the instructions. Take all the pills in the bottle, don’t eat fat-laden foods, wear sunscreen; whatever your assignment is, follow through. After all, your doctor doesn't make those recommendations, so they will be ignored.
Be wise about following those directions too. You may remember when your mother asked you whether you, too, would jump off a bridge just because your friends were jumping off a bridge. If you believe that following directions is causing a problem, then speak up, and ask the professionals to help you make adjustments.
5. Be curious.
Early on, we learned to read, ask questions, study and look things up in the library. Never were those skills more important than they are when you have a medical challenge.
Read everything you can, study cases similar to yours and look up words you don’t know. Ask questions of more than one professional, including your doctor, other professionals in your doctor's office and other patients. Learn more about your diagnosis and treatment options on the Internet. Read the patient information that comes with any of your new drugs and prescriptions.
Your health can improve when you are curious.
6. Wash your hands.
This is the first lesson we learn about hygiene. Now we have learned that this one tool can save lives, because it stops the spread of infections that can kill us.
Keep your hands washed, and expect your providers to do so too. Insist they wash their hands while you are watching them. Know that sanitizing gel is not effective enough. Stay healthy by insisting on hygiene and cleanliness.
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Some of the best tools we can use as patients were the basics we were taught growing up. Putting them in to practice will help us find our best medical outcomes.
Perhaps you can think of others? Check out the Patient Empowerment forum. We'll keep a list — you can contribute!
