Here’s an uncomfortable truth that every family should be aware of:
You shouldn’t assume your doctor is providing you with optimal medical advice.
By optimal, I mean advice that is:
- Grounded in the most recent medical knowledge.
- Adapted to your preferences and values.
- Made after helping you consider the various options, along with their risks and benefits.
Doctors are generally trying their best. But it’s hard for a single person to keep up with all the latest knowledge, plus doctors tend to get into practice habits that aren’t necessarily in your best interest.
Are You Regularly Informed of Non-Drug Treatment Options?
Case in point: Although guidelines suggest that mild-to-moderate depression can initially be treated by either psychotherapy or by medication — because they are generally equally effective — many seniors are not informed of this. Instead, the tendency is usually for doctors to dash off a prescription.
Fortunately, it is possible to work around this problem in healthcare, so that you can get healthcare that better fits your older relative’s needs.
To help people recognize and address this common issue, I’ve written an article for NextAvenue.org:
“How to Get the Best Care from Your Doctor“
4 Steps You Can Take to Get Better Health Care
In this NextAvenue article, I explain in detail what an optimal medical recommendation should look like.
Then I share four steps you can take, to get better care from your doctors:
- Choose your doctors carefully.
- Do your homework, when it comes to health conditions and treatment options.
- Ask about alternatives.
- Consider a second opinion.
To get the tips in detail, read the full story at NextAvenue.org.
Remember: the more you learn about how healthcare works, the better you’ll be at getting what you need from the medical system.
By learning to get the right healthcare, and avoid the wrong healthcare, you’ll help your older loved one have better health, wellbeing, and quality of life.
I am thoroughly impressed by the way you present your article, information and the ability to give unknown facts is the most surprising factor of all. This article looks very good.
I really want to get some help from a doctor. The problem is, I don’t have a doctor right now. I just moved to a new area, and I really want to find some sort of professional to help me get better. Maybe I should start making some phone calls.
Yes, call around and see who is in your area. You can try to get recommendations from people too. Good luck!
The last time I had my medical check up was Nov 2018 and it was normal with my age 63 do I need a maintenance
In general, research has not found that an “annual physical” or other annual medical visit improves outcomes, for people who have no symptoms and are otherwise up to date on their preventive medical care.
That said, you might consider contacting your health provider and asking if they think a follow-up visit is indicated, and if they say yes, ask for what reason. You may have heard your checkup was “normal” however your medical provider may have noted some issues that would benefit from a check-in, a year later. Good luck!
Being informed of non-drug treatments is a big one because if they are only trying to squeeze money from you then they may not care much about your health. Thanks for sharing.
I really like your first point on making sure that you choose doctors carefully from the start. In my opinion, that is the best way to ensure that you’re taken care of, no matter what. Plus, there are a lot of things you can do to ensure that. For starters, you could probably ask your potential doctor some questions and see how they respond.
I really like your tip about choosing your doctors carefully! My husband and I recently moved to a new town so we are looking for a new place to take our kids. We will have to keep these tips in mind while we are searching. Hopefully, we will be able to find a great place that will help with our family’s health.
I think it is best to go into the doctor’s office with the mindset that they are going to do everything for you. I was unaware that deciding on a specific doctor was such a big deal; however, it makes sense that you want someone you trust to help you. Asking for a second opinion is also incredibly smart — I did not think about that one! Thanks again for all the advice!
Generally the doctor cannot “do everything” for you because time is limited.
That’s a good tip to do your homework about health conditions. That way you go to your doctor and ask informed decisions. I’ve been having weird aches in my arms so maybe I should find a doctor to visit.
Generally I think it’s not very useful to try to extensively research a symptom ahead of time; there are just too many possible things it could be.
If you are having a pain or strange feeling in your arms then yes, it’s a good idea to see a doctor. Once he or she has made a diagnosis, you can consider learning more about how that condition gets diagnosed and can be managed. Good luck.
Great article. I really appreciate the insight here in this post and confident it’s going to be helpful to me and many others. Thanks for sharing all the information and useful tips.
You’re very welcome, glad you find this helpful.
I have always been a little nervous to go to the doctor, but I want to make sure I am getting the best care possible. Currently, I am looking for a doctor, and as you said, it’s important to choose your doctor carefully. Making sure you yourself are informed on treatment options, as you explained, is a great way to make sure you and your doctor are working together to achieve optimal health. Thanks for sharing!
I like these four tips to help you get better care. I agree that you really should choose your doctors carefully. You have every right to not go with someone who you don’t feel comfortable with. I also think it’s a good idea to ask around for second opinions.
This article was very informative, thank you for SHARING your knowledge
My grandmother is getting pretty old and I want to make sure she is getting the best care. So, I liked that you talked about asking about other treatment options. My grandmother has a sensitive stomach and I would want to know if there is another type of medication for her to use if she has stomach issue with the first treatment option.
Yes, it’s always important to ask the doctor to describe other ways a problem might be treated.
Leslie, I can definitely see why you would want to find a doctor who grounds their advice in medical knowledge. I have been feeling very weak and tired for weeks and I’m starting to get concerned. I definitely think that I should look for a clinic that could help me to find a professional that could give me the proper treatments.
Yes, if you’ve been feeling weak and tired for weeks, I would certainly recommend seeing a health professional for further evaluation. Good luck.
My mom might be getting some prescriptions after being in the hospital with an intensivist and family doctor. I didn’t know that prescriptions could be written off so quickly before considering either psychotherapy or by medication like you pointed out. It might be a good idea to go ahead and ask if there are any options for non-drug treating options before she receives her prescription.
Yes, it is always a good idea to ask what non-drug treatments might be available.
Hospital doctors do write a lot of prescriptions. Those may or may not be the best for a patient long-term, so it’s always good to discuss the hospitalist’s prescriptions with one’s usual primary care provider. Often hospitalists have not discussed their recommendations with the PCP, or may not be fully informed about a person’s medical history and treatment preferences.
Thanks for the tips about choosing and getting medical advice. I agree that it is so important to choose and research doctors carefully. My wife has an auto-immune disease and I want her to be as healthy as possible. A good doctor can be someone to confide in and fell safe with. I’ll be sure we research extensively when choosing a doctor.
Yes, you’ll want to choose a good doctor. But it will also help if your wife learns to research her auto-immune condition. It might help for her to find an online community of other people with her condition. Good luck!
Thanks for sharing! It’s awesome how you talked about asking a doctor about different options along with their risks and benefits. I’m going to the neurologist’s appointment this week and I’ll definitely consider these recommendations.
I like that you mention being careful about what doctor you choose. My brother is looking to get some adult medicine for his wife but needs someone reliable. I’ll be sure to talk to him about being careful about which doctor to choose.
Yes, if you can choose, it’s important to try to find a clinician who is a good fit for you. Good luck!
I liked that you had mentioned that in order to get the best care it can be important to do your homework and ask about alternatives to treatments that they mention. My mother has been getting pretty sick but refuses to get the care she needs for some reason. We’ll have to start looking around for a health clinic so that she can get her diagnoses, but we’ll be sure to do our homework before any decisions are made.
Sorry to hear your mom has been reluctant to get care. You might find some helpful suggestions in this article
4 Things to Do When an Older Person Resists Help
I wanted to thank you again for all the information listed here on how to get more medical advice from your doctors. One thing that you mentioned that stuck with me was that the more you learn about health care, the better you will be at getting what you need from the medical system. Being a college student, it is time for me to do my research and figure out what kind of health care options are available to me. Thanks again!
It’s always a good idea to become more knowledgeable about one’s health.
There really is a lot that you have to to make sure that you are getting the best advice possible from your doctors. I particularly like that the article brings up the importance of choosing your doctor carefully. After all, if you want to make sure you get the best advice you have to have a doctor that is actually invested in your health.
Lot’s of people have become and will continue to be way too trusting of a business or person due to the fact that they themselves don’t have the knowledge to fulfill a current need or desire. I’ve watched both of my grandmothers and grandfathers go through a number of different medical issues in which they would take a medication that a doctor would prescribe without looking for contradictions or healthier options for each situation. There is so much information available to us for free and we don’t even use it. Lets do some research then get multiple opinions, look for lots of contradictions and dig into our families history. When we go to the doctor, we would be equipped and able to tell them everything they could possibly need to know about us. When a person doesn’t know your past issues and patterns in life, there is no way for them to make a completely accurate assessment. Then, things end up getting worse or a whole new problem arises. The time it would take to do everything necessary for our health is far less than the time taken if you were to get more ill because at the end of the day, being a Doctor is their job… not their life.
Yes, many people are fairly unquestioning of doctors. I think that is changing with the younger generation, and I’ve also been happy to see more and more older people asking questions as well.
I like how you point out that doing your own homework on treatment options is important. I feel like a lot of people don’t take their health seriously when it comes to this aspect of care. This is definitely a tip I’d be more willing to utilize in the future.