Are You Taking an Active Role in Your Health Care?

[rangerrebew]

Are You Taking an Active Role in Your Health Care?
Don't assume your doctor is the only one who can manage your health.

By Heidi Godman, Contributor |April 13, 2018, at 12:28 p.m.



Doug Amis knew he had to make a change. He had survived a quadruple heart bypass 20 years earlier, but his cholesterol and blood sugar numbers were heading in a dangerous direction. His doctor’s advice about diet and exercise didn’t seem to be helping. “I was not educated in this area and I was relying on my doctor, who was also uneducated about it,” says Amis, a 69-year-old from Danville, California.

Amis began researching treatment and eating a plant-based diet. Then he got a new doctor and spoke up at their first meeting. “I said, ‘This is the direction I want to go in, and here are the books I’ve been reading. Is it something you agree with?’” Amis remembers.

https://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2018-04-13/are-you-taking-an-active-role-in-your-health-care

[Applewood]

My Mom would stand on her head if the doctor told her to -- in her generation, the doctor was god and you never questioned him.  Mom was appalled the first time I went with her to an appointment and began asking questions. But I've always been that way with my own health care.  I want to know what the treatment is, what the downsides are, what is the success rate, are there alternatives, etc. These days the younger generation of doctors actually welcome a patient with a lot of questions.  It's the older ones who take questions as an afront.  If a doctor is hostile to me, I'll go elsewhere.

[berdie]

I do take an active role. I want to know why, who, side affects etc.

I'm sure my PCP hates me...but oh well. Her job is to inform. My job is to make the decision.