At no other time in history has the patient had access to the amount of information about illness, had the legal and societal (and financial) rights to determine healthcare choices, and access to widespread availability of cutting edge technology and expert care. This January you will find the steps you can take to become more empowered, either as a patient yourself, or as a patient advocate.
The Empowered Patient An empowered patient or patient advocate helps the healing process both through information and action. Here is the first step towards becoming empowered!
There is probably nothing more scary than speaking up. When we feel intimidated, rushed, or confused, it can be hard to ask questions let alone think straight. How many times have we left a meeting or consultation, only to think of a question we needed answered after the fact? The best way to work under these stressful conditions is to be prepared.
One way you can do this is through visualization: Even if it's just on the drive in to the appointment, imagine yourself in the room, calm and confident. Play through some conversations in your mind in which you ask questions, or ask the doctor to repeat instructions. Practice some polite phrases out loud:
Another tactic that increases your confidence you can practice in the waiting room. Just taking these poses for about 2 minutes has been proven to improve confidence and assertive behavior!
Now that you have prepared to be powerful, let's get ready to listen, learn, and record. Tune in next week for Step 2: Research!
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in January 2015 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy and comprehensiveness.