Have you ever left an appointment with a healthcare provider feeling frustrated, or that your needs were not fully met? Did you feel that your healthcare provider did not listen to you? Or maybe you left the visit not fully understanding your diagnosis or why you need additional medications or tests? If any of the above scenarios sound familiar, you are not alone. Many of us have experienced this at one time or another, and sometimes more than once.

We all have the responsibility to take a pro-active role in our own well-being; we need to be in control of how we want our bodies to be treated and taken care of. After all, you are the true expert of your body. You live in it every day and experience the joys, sorrows, aches, and pains that no one else really knows. Therefore, we all need to have the tools to effectively and thoroughly communicate our needs to our healthcare provider.

Over the years I have complied and gathered the following suggestions which I have found to be beneficial for me during appointments and I hope that you might be able to add some of these suggestions to you own tool box for future reference.

• Once your appointment has been scheduled with your healthcare provider, start compiling a list of any questions, symptoms, and concerns that you would like to have addressed during your visit. I find it useful to have a small notepad in my purse to jot down any questions that come to mind.
• A couple of days prior to your appointment, go through your compiled list of questions and concerns. Review each item to make sure that you have been simple, direct, and to the point with your question. Next, prioritize each item in order of importance to you. (In my experience it has been beneficial to have the most important items discussed first.)
• Take your list with you to your appointment. Don’t be afraid to be direct with your questions. Remember, you are the expert on your body. Address each topic simply, but frankly. Write down your healthcare providers answers. If you do not understand the response from your healthcare provider, ask her/him to please repeat the answer in terminology that you are comfortable with. Address each item in the same manner.
• If something is being said that just “doesn’t feel right,” follow your intuition and speak up, letting the healthcare provider know your feelings. And remember, if you need time to think about an option, test, medication, or procedure, it is ok to take the time to think about it before agreeing to anything. The only exception to this would be in a life-threatening instance when you would need to make a decision on the spot.
• Once you reach the conclusion of your visit, summarize what your understanding is of each item addressed with your healthcare provider and ask if s/he has the same understanding.
• For more information on tips to effectively communicate with your healthcare provider, I suggest starting with the internet. There is a multitude of material available about on the topic of effective communication.

Author Bio: Kandy Newland-Platt is a writer and administrator at Clear Passage Therapies