By Smita Saraykar, M.D., M.P.H., Family Medicine, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic – Fort Bend Campus
Maintaining your health is a lifelong commitment. Addressing evolving priorities becomes increasingly important as we age, and we need to know how to best approach these evolving needs and more frequent visits with your doctor.
Appointments addressing specific health concerns with your doctor can be overwhelming. New, complex information and stress can cause patients to miss important information.
How can you manage this complexity and be an effective advocate for your health?
Before your visit:
- Gather and bring all your medications to your appointment.
- Bring your medical records, such as notes and recommendations from specialists and details of recent hospitalizations. Your doctor may have access to some of these records, but systems do not always communicate with one another effectively.[1]
- 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. If there is not enough time to cover all topics effectively, make a follow-up appointment to address everything you wanted to cover.[2]
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. There may be many things to discuss during your appointment. Taking notes is useful to ensure no details are lost. Often, your doctor can provide or recommend resources for further education.
- Review after your appointment. Review your notes, educational materials, and updated medication list if needed, and contact your doctor if you have any questions. Schedule a follow-up appointment to review any other questions not addressed at the appointment.
- Consider bringing a friend or family member, especially if an appointment is likely to involve learning new information, such as management of a newly diagnosed condition, learning the results from a recent test or screening, or building a new nutrition or physical fitness routine. Having someone you trust with you can help you remember details and decisions and provide reinforcement and accountability to the management recommendations.[3]
Facing new diagnoses or tests:
Learning about a new health condition, test, or screening can be stressful. When your doctor recommends a test based on age, health conditions, family history, or other factors, ask questions to gain a more complete understanding of your health, risk factors, and test benefits. Asking questions can help you be more confident in actively managing your own health.
Questions to ask about screening tests:
- Why do you recommend this test for me specifically?
- 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? For example, some medical tests require you to fast ahead of time.
- Are there risks or side effects? How would they be managed?
- How long will it take to get the results? What are our next steps after receiving them?[4]
If your results show you have or are at risk for a medical condition, there are questions you may want to ask:
- What may have caused or contributed to this new condition?
- Is the condition permanent? How is it treated?
- Does the treatment itself carry the potential for side effects?[5]
Your doctor is an ally who is there for you to help with sensitive and social issues that can affect your health – such as social isolation, risk of falling, and urinary incontinence. While these issues may seem difficult to talk about, they all can become more prominent as we age. Your doctor is also focused on prevention through helping you manage unhealthy habits and promoting positive health habits. They may seem uncomfortable or embarrassing to talk about, but doctors are eager to talk about these issues and help you feel comfortable about solutions. They can guide you toward positive, healthy outcomes.[6]
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, healthcare, and behaviors that we can control. 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.
[1] How to prepare for a doctor’s appointment | National Institute on Aging
[2] Five ways to get the most out of your doctor’s visit | National Institute on Aging
[3] How to prepare for a doctor’s appointment | National Institute on Aging
[4] What should I ask my doctor during a checkup? | National Institute on Aging
[5] What should I ask my doctor during a checkup? | National Institute on Aging
[6] How to talk to your doctor about sensitive issues | National Institute on Aging