Take charge of your health journey: Be your own advocate

Appointments addressing specific health concerns with your doctor can be overwhelming. Complex, new information and stress can cause patients to miss important information.

How can you manage this complexity and effectively advocate for your health?

Before your visit

Gather and bring all your medications to your appointment.

Bring your medical records and names of specialists you see, notes and recommendations from specialists and details of recent hospitalizations will further inform your provider. Your doctor may have access to some of these records, but systems do not always communicate with one another effectively.

Write down a list of questions and concerns that you would like to talk about. It is easy to forget issues during a clinic visit.

During your visit, you may not always feel as though you have a lot of time to get through all the important issues. So how can you make your visit with your provider as productive as possible?

Stay focused on the priorities. Keeping the conversation on track ensures that you can cover as many items on your list as possible and that your doctor can discuss and manage the issues they identify as being critical for your health, such as disease prevention.

Take notes during your appointment. Taking notes is useful to ensure no details are lost. Often, your doctor can provide or recommend resources for further education.

Consider bringing a friend or family member. Having someone you trust with you can help you remember details and decisions and provide reinforcement and accountability to the management recommendations.

Facing new diagnoses or tests

Learning about a new health condition, test or screening can be stressful.

Questions to ask about physician-recommended tests:

Why do you recommend this test for me specifically?

What will we do with the information we obtain?

What is the cost of this test? Is it covered by my insurance?

What should I know about the test itself?

What should I do ahead of time to prepare? How long will it take to get the results?

Are there risks or side effects? How would they be managed?

Your primary health care provider is your ally, who is also there to help with sensitive medical topics and social issues that can affect your health, such as social isolation, risk of falling, and urinary incontinence, which may seem difficult to talk about, but all of which can become more prevalent as we age. Your doctor is also focused on prevention through helping you manage unhealthy habits and promoting positive health habits.

You have enough to worry about when you go to see the doctor. As we age, there are many things that we cannot control. It is important to remember that there are many aspects of our health, health care and behaviors that we can regulate. Taking a proactive approach to your own care will go a long way to reducing your stress and improving your health for years to come.