Maintaining Healthy Relationships with Physicians

How Maintaining a Healthy Relationship with Your Physician

can Improve Your Mental Health

Written by Ryan McGinty

Many people probably don't think too much about going to see their physician. It can be a simple interaction that can seem routine to many, however how can you tell if you are getting the most out of your check-ups? Some questions to ask yourself while meeting with your physician are “how comfortable do I feel communicating with my physician”, and “am I really understanding what he/she is telling me”?

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Research from two studies (Christianson, Warrick, Finch, & Jonas, 2012; and  DiMateo, Haskard-Zolnierek, Williams, & Despues, 2011). Has found that “when physicians asked about patients anxiety, and showed support and empathy, the patients anxiety levels lowered, and they felt more comfortable asking questions to their physician. (Christianson et al., 2012). Furthermore research from (Roberts, Cox,Douglas, Reinfgen, Baile, and Giberfini,) shows that “Physicians supportive communication can have a significant positive influence on a patient‘s psychological well being.”

Based off this research you may want to consider your current relationship with your physician...

~ Does he/she encourage you to take part in the conversation or do they just bombard you with information which only goes on to make you more stressed out? ~

If you find your relationship to be the latter it may be time to look into a new physician.

Overall it may seem obvious that having a healthy relationship with your physician is a good thing, however you may not know just how much this relationship can improve your overall health.

A study from (Levinson, Lesser, and Epstein 2010), shows that “physicians conveying supportive rhetoric can actually have a positive impact on chronic diseases. This includes improvements in clinical outcomes in the management of diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.”

Lastly never be afraid to ask your physician questions! If you don’t understand something ask your physician to explain it further to you. Many people don’t want to sound dumb by asking their physicians to further explain if they don’t understand something, so they just don’t ask at all. This only makes you feel more closed off and can lead to you getting stressed out. Remember that your physician should always be there to help you, and anything you don’t understand should be asked so that they can explain it to you, and make you feel better about your overall well being!

Written by Ryan McGinty

References:

Christianson, J., Warrick, L., Finch, M., & Jonas, W. (2012). How does physician communication

affect patients? In Physician Communication with Patients: Research Findings and Challenges(pp.

68-100). ANN ARBOR: University of Michigan Press. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org.prxy4.ursus.maine.edu/stable/10.3998/mpub.3644234.7

DiMatteo, M., Haskard-Zolnierek, K., Williams, S., & Despues, D. (2011). Physician-patient

communication in the care of vulnerable populations: The patient’s voice in interpersonal policy. In

Hoffman B., Tomes N., Grob R., & Schlesinger M. (Eds.), Patients as Policy Actors: A Century of

Changing Markets and Missions (pp. 43-59). Rutgers University Press. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org.prxy4.ursus.maine.edu/stable/j.ctt5hj15t.6

Roberts, C. S., Cox, C. E., Reintgen, D. S., Baile, W. F. and Gibertini, M. (1994), Influence of

physician communication on newly diagnosed breast patients' psychologic adjustment and decision

making. Cancer, 74: 336–341. doi:10.1002/cncr.2820741319

Levison, Lesser, Epstein. (2010), Developing Physician Communication Skills For Patient-Centered

Care,  https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0450

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