Making decisions about therapies

January 2007     View PDF     En español

Conclusion

For most people, the idea of having a decision-making process around healthcare is a new concept. The vast majority of us have done as we were told when it comes to healthcare decisions. If the doctor prescribed a pill, we simply took it. (Or we didn’t, but we probably didn’t tell the doctor!)

Participating with your doctor—in choosing therapies and monitoring for side effects and the effectiveness of a therapy—is a new experience for most people. It’s not something that all doctors feel comfortable with nor is it something that many people immediately feel comfortable with either. Studies have shown, however, that people who participate in their healthcare decisions and form a partnership with an HIV-experienced doctor, tend to do better.

While information about HIV and the various options for managing HIV disease can at times seem overwhelming, developing a decision-making process around treatment is not a mystery. In fact, the general principals of decision-making around your health and treatment choices are the same principals that you probably already apply in many areas of your life. In essence:

• consider how you feel (ultimately how do I feel about all this?);
• consult people that you trust (what do my friends think about it?); and;
• consider the facts (what does the research show?).

Once you’ve decided what you want to do, next decide:

• when you’re going to do it (when to start),
• how you’re going to know if it’s the right thing (how to monitor for benefit), and
• how you’re going to know if it’s hurting you (how to monitor for side effects).
• Moreover, plan ahead. Think about what you might do if it doesn’t work out (when to switch), and
• under what circumstances you might just decide not to do it anymore (when to stop).

This type of decision-making process can be applied to any kind of therapy approach be it pharmaceutical drugs, complementary therapy or alternative systems of healing. Participating as a full partner in your treatment decisions offers many benefits, but it also takes effort on your part. The likelihood of benefiting from therapy increases and the likelihood of experiencing serious side effects from therapy decreases when you’re involved in decision-making and monitoring.