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Being Your Own Best Health Advocate

Most medical practitioners try to do their best for their patients and are usually more than happy to answer questions. But, like many people who have spent years studying and working in a specialized field, they sometimes forget that the rest of us don't have the benefit of their vast knowledge and experience.

In an ideal world, healthcare professionals would always communicate with patients in lay terms, and some of them do. But to get the most out of your healthcare, you are perhaps best served by meeting your medical team halfway, becoming a better advocate for your own health and wellness.

That's not to say you should enroll in medical school to understand your healthcare professional better. But, a little background knowledge of your particular condition will allow you to ask more relevant questions and more fully understand the answers. It may also help you describe your symptoms and the effectiveness of various treatments in greater detail, enabling your healthcare professional to manage your case more effectively. It might even save your life—even healthcare professionals occasionally make mistakes—and being familiar with your condition and your medical history may alert you to a potential error, such as the wrong prescription.

So how do you go about being your own health advocate?

Preparation is the key. The first thing to do is find out all you can about your condition. Unless you have some prior medical training, medical text books might be a little heavy going to start with – probably best to save them until later. Much later.

Fortunately, publishers have created a wealth of books on medical conditions that everyday people can understand. A good place to start is at your local library, or visit Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble online. Read through the reviews of other purchasers to get some idea of which one(s) may be right for you.

You may also want to make contact with local or online support groups dedicated to your condition. They will probably be able to recommend further information sources, and may even produce some of their own literature.

Finally, of course, there is the Internet. A brief search will probably turn up thousands of web pages that mention your condition, and many will indeed be very helpful. Although it's a great resource, information found on the Internet is not always reliable or up to date. Always crosscheck your findings with a reputable source. A good starting point is a comprehensive medical site such as mayoclinic.com, or one run by a national or world association focused on your particular condition. Information on these sites is vetted by healthcare professionals and contains some of the most up-to-date information on the web today.

Now that you have all this new information, you probably have quite a few questions about it. Write them down as they come up and then, before your next appointment, prepare a list of those questions that still need answers. Think about anything else you may want to mention at the consultation, anything that you'd like your healthcare professional to know or do, and add those to the list too – it's easy to forget something important in a busy consultation.

Don't be afraid to make notes during the consultation. Your healthcare professional won't mind, and it will help you remember what was discussed, including the answers to your questions. Be sure to take note of any tests, procedures or medications that your healthcare professional recommends—you will want to research them later, and list any questions you may have for your next consultation. In the case of medication, it's worth asking about potential side effects.

Taking notes shouldn't stop at the healthcare professional’s door, either. For example, you may want to keep a diary of the signs and symptoms relevant to your condition, so you can track your progress and give your healthcare professional a detailed history of your condition. They will probably find this helpful, as healthcare professionals tend to think in terms of chronological sequences of events. Remember, communication is a two-way street, and the easier you make it for your healthcare professional to assimilate new information, the better the care you will receive.

More generally, you may want to consider whether a healthcare professional can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and whether your insurance and healthcare professionals adequately meet your needs. Programs like Baylor's Houston-based “How to Talk to Your Doctor” workshops and author Dr. John Burton's “Being Your Own Health Advocate” could be further sources of good ideas. As Dr. Burton says, “Knowledge is empowering. An informed patient almost always has a more effective partnership with their doctor.”

New technology, from the Internet for research to logging smartphone apps like Michael Schultz's Hemolog  make it easier than ever to acquire and record that knowledge.

Being your own advocate is not only good medicine, but puts you in control of your healthcare, something you’ll need to do for the rest of your life.

Some Helpful Links on Advocacy