Posts Tagged doctors
Become Your Own Healthcare Advocate
We know that in politics lobbyists hope to have influence on important political decisions. They are advocates for their specific causes. They are respected for their expertise and they keep focused on getting the results they desire. Wouldn’t you assume the same is true when applying the analogy to your own healthcare? When diagnosed with a chronic or life-threatening illness it’s important for you or a care partner to become knowledgeable about advocating for the best outcome from treatment.
Be Intelligent
No one expects you to take a crash medical school course after being diagnosed with an illness. It’s not necessary that you understand anatomy and physiology or cell biology. It is important that you know how your own body works. What are the unique features of your body? What illnesses and injuries have you had? What medications are you allergic to? How do you respond to medication? It’s also important that you have at least a basic understanding of your diagnosis. You should know the actual diagnosis and all its particulars. If your specific disease has stages, phases or degrees, know where you are on the continuum. Do enough research so that you aren’t buried in information on your first doctor’s visit.
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Becoming a Senior Advocate – When Life Happens
A little over a month ago, I found myself back in the emergency room with my father-in-law. I am part of the sandwich generation, that age between getting kids out of the nest to start their lives and helping parents in their later years to live their lives with some grace and comfort. Powers of attorney (POA) for health care for my mother and my father-in-law have fallen squarely in my court.
Being an advocate for a senior requires more than making doctor appointments and helping to ensure the senior makes it to the appointment. That is the simple part. Some seniors may not want to press doctors regarding their care because they are afraid they will be punished by not getting the care they need. Doctors may be so busy that they will sometimes miss crucial issues on the charts in front of them or may accept non-committal answers from a senior scared to death of hospitals and ending up in a nursing home and not look deeper for the underlying cause of health issues.
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