Introduction
Empowering yourself with knowledge and tools will help you feel in control of your healthcare journey, no matter what it holds. Use the internet to your advantage. Get connected with a health coach or other resource that can provide support and context for understanding your treatment plans. Say’s Dr. Julian Mitton, make lists of questions to ask your doctor about your health goals, treatments, and medications. Keep track of symptoms and side effects so you can communicate them accurately to doctors and nurses during appointments
Empowering yourself with knowledge and tools will help you feel in control of your healthcare journey, no matter what it holds.
Empowering yourself with knowledge and tools will help you feel in control of your healthcare journey, no matter what it holds. At the beginning of your treatment, it’s important to have an open dialogue with your health care team about what they are doing and why. This can help you understand the treatment plan and make decisions about whether or not it’s right for you.
Understanding side effects of medications is also important so that if something goes wrong with your body or mind during treatment, there will be less uncertainty about what happened and why–which allows more time spent figuring out solutions rather than questioning whether or not there was even a problem at all!
The most empowering thing anyone can do is ask questions when something doesn’t seem quite right; this shows them that their concerns matter just as much as their answers do!
Use the internet to your advantage.
You can use the internet to your advantage. Here are some ideas:
- Find information about your health and illness.
- Find a good doctor, hospital, pharmacy and lab that you trust.
- Find an insurance company whose services work well with your needs and preferences (for example, if they have affordable plans).
- Join a support group where people share similar experiences as yours so that they can offer advice on what worked for them or didn’t work well for them during their recovery process from illness or injury recovery period (such as physical therapy exercises).
Get connected with a health coach or other resource that can provide support and context for understanding your treatment plans.
If you are having difficulty understanding a treatment plan or managing your symptoms, get connected with a health coach or other resource that can provide support and context for understanding your treatment plans. A health coach is trained in helping people understand their bodies, medications and symptoms. They will be able to help you understand how to manage the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments such as fatigue or nausea.
Health coaches work with patients who have cancer or other chronic illnesses like diabetes so they can learn how best to live their lives during treatment while still being able to enjoy life today!
Make lists of questions to ask your doctor about your health goals, treatments, and medications.
As you prepare to meet with your doctor, make a list of questions that are important to you. The following sample questions may help get the conversation started:
- What are the goals of this treatment?
- What side effects might I experience from this treatment, and how will they be managed (if necessary)?
- Are there other treatments or therapies that could be used instead of or in addition to this one?
If you don’t understand something during your visit, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification–it’s normal if it takes some time before things click!
Keep track of symptoms and side effects so you can communicate them accurately to doctors and nurses during appointments.
It’s important to keep track of your symptoms and side effects so you can communicate them accurately to doctors and nurses during appointments.
The more detailed you are, the better. If you have a headache, try describing it: “It feels like my head is going to explode.” Or “I have a stabbing pain in my right temple.” The more specific information they have about your condition, the better they’ll be able to help diagnose what’s causing it–and prevent future health problems from occurring due to misdiagnosis or inadequate treatment plans.
You are in charge of your own healthcare journey – take control of it!
You are in charge of your own healthcare journey – take control of it!
- Use the internet to your advantage. The internet is a great source for information, but also be aware that there are plenty of websites that may not have up-to-date information or provide accurate advice for you. Make sure you do some research on where you’re getting your information from, and if possible check with a health coach or other resource that can provide support and context for understanding your treatment plans (this could be through Skype appointments).
- Get connected with others who understand what it’s like being on this journey too by joining online communities like Empowering Patients Online Support Group (EPOSG) on Facebook or Twitter @EPOSGOrg where people share their experiences with each other as well as ask questions about how they can empower themselves mentally/emotionally/physically during their own healthcare journeys.”
Conclusion
Regardless of what treatment you’re going through, it’s important to remember that you are in charge of your own healthcare journey. You have the power to take control of your health and make informed decisions about how you want it managed. Empowering yourself with knowledge and tools will help you feel more confident throughout this process so that even if things don’t go according to plan, at least they’ll be on your terms!
