Do you ever feel nervous, embarrassed, or unsure about communicating your health concerns with your doctor? To ensure that seniors receive the best possible healthcare, they must be willing to communicate openly and honestly with their healthcare providers. Effective communication helps healthcare providers understand and support their patients’ unique health journeys, which leads to personalized and effective treatment plans. Although effective communication is ideal, many seniors find conversations with their healthcare providers difficult. They may experience hearing or cognitive impairments that make communication difficult or feel intimidated by medical terminology that healthcare providers often use. This blog post will go into the significance of communication with healthcare professionals, tackle the common concerns seniors face, and examine how to overcome them.
Common Elderly Health Concerns
- Chronic Conditions: Seniors often face a variety of chronic conditions that can negatively impact their quality of life. It is important to discuss how to treat these conditions and reduce their effects. Some of these common chronic conditions include Arthritis, which leads to joint pain and mobility issues [1], heart disease, which requires careful management of diet, exercise, and medication [2], and diabetes, which requires regular monitoring of blood sugar levels and lifestyle changes [3]. For more detailed information on managing these chronic conditions, please explore Greater Good Health’s website.
- Cognitive Decline: This includes issues such as memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease, and is a common concern among seniors [4]. Cognitive decline can tremendously affect one’s ability to function and complete daily tasks independently. This makes it necessary for seniors and their caregivers to recognize early signs and markers of cognitive decline, and seek appropriate support. The best place to start when learning how to recognize the signs and symptoms is by speaking to a healthcare professional.
- Mobility and Balance Issues: A large group of seniors experience mobility and balance issues, which increases their risk of falling and hurting themselves [5]. These falls can lead to serious injuries and further limit their mobility. Asking your doctor about what strength and balance exercises would help you the most, as well as discussing any concerns or worries you may have, is essential for fall prevention.
- Mental Health: Many seniors deal with mental health concerns, such as depression, anxiety, and social isolation [6]. These concerns can greatly affect seniors’ well-being and outlook on life. Seniors need to talk about their mental health and check in on how they are feeling with their healthcare providers. Mental health is often interconnected with physical health; negative effects can be alleviated with the right interventions.
- Sensory Impairments: These include hearing loss and vision problems, which are common among seniors, but can significantly impact their quality of life [7]. These concerns often hinder communication and your ability to partake in social activities, exacerbating feelings of isolation and loneliness. Regular screenings and conversations with healthcare professionals can likely help seniors maintain their independence and interactions with others [8].
How to Talk to Your Doctor About Health Concerns for Seniors
Proactive and effective communication with healthcare professionals is extremely important for seniors to address their health concerns and prevent issues from arising. Open dialogue can help healthcare professionals and seniors get on the same page of understanding, improve care, and enhance quality of life. Here are some steps to help seniors champion themselves in conversations with their healthcare providers, even when it may feel daunting:
Prepare Before the Appointment
- List Your Concerns: Write down your symptoms, concerns, changes in health, and questions you may have. Share this list with your healthcare provider once you get to your appointment. Making a list beforehand ensures that you won’t forget anything at your appointments.
- Review Medications: In addition to listing your concerns, also list all of the current medications and supplements you are taking. This includes herbal supplements and vitamins. Having an updated list of your medications and supplements will help your healthcare provider assess potential interactions and adjust treatments where needed.
- Ask for Help: Even with the proper preparation, it can sometimes still feel difficult to have to talk to your healthcare provider alone. In this case, feel inclined to involve a caregiver or family member. They can provide support in communicating your concerns effectively.
Focus on Symptoms and Changes in Daily Life
- Talk About Pain: When speaking to your healthcare provider, it is important that you describe the pain levels you are in, how long you have been feeling this way, and what triggers this pain. For example, do you experience back pain all the time, or is it only when you are standing for long periods of time? Rate your level of pain on a scale of 1-10 if possible, and be sure to talk about how it affects your daily responsibilities.
- Discuss Mobility and Independence: Mention any difficulties you may be experiencing with necessary activities, like walking, balancing, or other daily activities. Be as specific as possible so that your healthcare provider can understand how much your symptoms impact your life.
- Address Mental Health Concerns: Make sure to bring up any mental health concerns you may have, such as trouble remembering things, or anxiety and depression. These are important to talk about, as they can lead to physical symptoms and drastically affect your quality of life.
Ask Questions and Clarify
- Don’t Hesitate to Ask: Remember, your healthcare provider is there to answer any and all questions you may have. Do not be afraid to probe them on diagnoses, treatment options, or prognosis. Your health is crucial and deserves proper answers.
- Ask for Clarification: Although unintentional, some healthcare providers may answer your question in a way that doesn’t make sense to you, especially if they are prone to using medical terminology that is not as accessible as they may think. Do not shy away from asking your healthcare professional to explain the medical terminology in simpler language, or ask them to repeat their answer.
- Bring Up Preventative Care: Remember to ask your healthcare provider about preventative screenings, vaccinations, and other age-related check-ups that may be due. You want to be as proactive as possible about preventing future illnesses and conditions.
Overcome Communication Barriers
- Be Honest: Although you may feel embarrassed or weary about mentioning certain health issues, make an effort to share your thoughts and questions regardless. Honesty is necessary for receiving effective and accurate treatment.
- Work with Hearing or Vision Impairments: If you experience hearing or vision impairments, bring assistive devices to your appointment to support you. If you do not have assistive devices, make your doctor aware of your impairments and ask them to accommodate you.
- Use Written Information: It may be easier to remember and grasp your healthcare provider’s medical advice when they write it down for you, rather than just telling you. Request written summaries or notes from your doctor, so you can review them later. This can help promote understanding of your treatment plan.
Follow Up After the Appointment
- Next Steps: At the end of your appointment, remember to schedule your next appointment for regular visits or a follow-up appointment for a persistent issue.
- Medication Adjustments: If you are prescribed a new medication or treatment, add this to your list and review any changes with your doctor or pharmacist to ensure safety and effectiveness.
- Stay Organized: Use an agenda or calendar to keep track of all your upcoming appointments, treatments, and any new health developments. Stay organized to avoid any confusion or missed appointments.
The Benefits of Specialized Senior Healthcare
- Tailored Care: Specialized senior care is utilized to manage the specific aging-related issues that you may be facing. For example, geriatric care management focuses on the assessment and treatment of older adults, making sure that their health concerns are prioritized and that seniors have the resources they need to make quality health decisions [9]. This is a tailored approach that allows healthcare providers to develop personal relationships with their senior patients and provide individual care plans that consider both the medical needs and lifestyle preferences of their patients.
- Comprehensive Approach: Specialized senior healthcare uses a holistic approach to view well-being. This means that instead of just working towards greater physical health, healthcare providers are emphasizing physical health and social, emotional, and mental health. This will likely involve creating personalized exercise programs, nutritional guidance, support for mental health concerns, and recommendations for social and community activities. Focusing on all aspects of life makes specialized care helpful for seniors to not only manage their existing conditions but to enhance their overall well-being.
- Coordination of Care: A significant aspect of specialized healthcare is coordination of care, which is when all your healthcare providers work together as central points of contact to ensure that care is synchronized across different services. For example, your primary care physician will likely work together with your therapist, endocrinologist, nutritionist, etc, to make sure you are getting the comprehensive care you need. This coordination helps reduce the risk of medication errors, duplicate tests, and conflicting treatment plans.
Primary Care for Senior Health Concerns at Greater Good Health
At Greater Good Health, we believe in championing our patients to make quality and well-informed decisions about their health. This is why we encourage patients to have effective communication with their healthcare providers and advocate for their needs. Reach out to Greater Good Health to learn more about our services and how we can help you on your senior healthcare journey!