Building a cooperative
doctor / patient relationship
January 2010 View PDF En
español
For the patient …
Sharing your point of view with your doctor
Share your point of view. If some-thing is or isn't working for you,
it's important to let your doctor know. Being honest about your
viewpoint is especially important if you want to enroll in a study
or use experimental treatments.
Explain why you're considering a particular decision and listen to what your doctor has to say. Many doctors are willing to work with and support patients who have clearly put some thought and time into their decisions.
Whether or not agreement is reached on particular treatments, properly monitoring through exams and lab tests should be routine. In turn, you should agree to heed reasonable warnings suggested by this process.
If you want certain prescriptions, a friendly request is likely to work best. If the doctor opposes it, you're entitled to know why, in clear terms. His or her concerns and knowledge should be given due respect, whether or not you agree with them.
Choose a relationship style
Choose a relationship style and
discuss it with your doctor. People have different styles of relating to doctors,
and those styles may change at different times or for different illnesses.
In the "traditional" doctor-patient relationship, the doctor leads and the
patient follows. For some, this is effective because they feel secure and cared
for.
Others may view their relationship as more of a partnership, where both contribute to the decision-making process. Some prefer to make decisions and use a doctor primarily as a consultant. This style requires diplomacy by the patient as many doctors have not adjusted to the role of consultant.
None of these styles is right or wrong, but they all make different demands upon the relationship. It's important that you let your doctor know which style you prefer. As you become more familiar with HIV and experience different health challenges, the doctor-patient relationship style that works best for you may change.
Learn the information
Knowledge makes a world of difference. Generally, the more you know before a medical appointment, the more you can benefit from each visit. Obtaining information on your own doesn't need to be difficult or over-whelming. In fact, the education process can begin right at home.
Many websites, hotlines and community organizations are dedicated to answering questions about HIV. Realize that you can't learn everything at once, so concentrate on the information that's most important to your health right now. While self-learning is great, it should not substitute using your doctor as a source of information.
Prepare for appointments
You can benefit most when a visit is well-planned. It takes only a few minutes to write down key questions ahead of time. Get in the habit of writing down items in a journal about side effects you've experienced, missed doses, or any questions that come up between visits. Use it to update your doctor at the start of the visit.
Use the limited time in your doctor's office to focus on the most critical issues, rather than everything that comes to mind. Maybe bring along treatment literature to discuss in the visit. This allows your doctor to know your sources of information and how to evaluate them.
Get emotional news
Be prepared for the emotional content of the visit. Most doctors are sensitive, caring people who respond emotion-ally to their patients. Still, there's only so much support a doctor can give in the short time allotted for most visits. Plan in advance to make use of other support resources.
If you prefer a more straightforward approach, let your doctor know. But don't expect him or her to also serve as your therapist if news is unusually hard to hear. By choosing a more direct approach, you also choose a path that requires greater inner support.
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