Powerful Healthcare Decisions is comprised of online courses and health guidance coaching. The “power” comes from agency – the concrete capacity for meaningful action that includes not only freedom and confidence, but resources for action.
I would like to get posts from others about how you have experienced agency in your interactions with healthcare systems.
Do any of these pain points register with you? What other would you suggest?
• How do I develop the skills for helping me be in the driver’s seat for taking a more powerful role in conversations with healthcare practitioners?
• How do I get the right information about my illness and treatment options?
• How do I discern among sources of information that I can trust?
• What do I do when I do not understand what a healthcare practitioner is saying?
• What do I do when a healthcare practitioner talks down to me or minimizes or downplays my symptoms?
Please send me your draft posts at hrichman12@gmail.com. I will review them and make suggested edits. These can be anonymous.
Thanks.
Hal
Confidence building choices:
Preparing my questions ahead of time for appointments.
Reminding myself that my health is a priority and that it is ok to ask questions if I don’t understand something. It is my right to ask questions.
Talking to close friends or family about my worries/fears before and after appointments.
Taking time out in nature to get myself calm and grounded, and getting a good sleep, before I make important decisions.
Hesitations (limiting thoughts) that can reduce confidence and impact choices.
Worried I am being a bother, knowing how busy they are.
Thinking there are more sick people than me out there needing to be seen.
Feel like the system is broken anyway, and I am just wasting my time. It’s not worth the effort.
Others might see me as pushy and aggressive.
Healthcare practitioners haven’t believed me in the past and won’t likely believe me again this time.
Patient navigators do just that – they help people navigate the system by acting as liaisons to coordinate patient care and connecting people to appropriate health and community services.
Take a look at Cancer Care Navigation and navigation for Indigenous patients in Nova Scotia
Powerful Healthcare Decisions is about providing patients with the skills and resources to effectively collaborate with healthcare practitioners so they can advocate for what they want.
Healthcare practitioners can see this as “boot camp for patients” – patients who come for a visit better prepared and knowing what they want.
What are some reasons for taking the Skills Building course?
In the world of 15-minute appointments and a system with limited resources, where it is especially important to be able to effectively communicate with healthcare practitioners….
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