Talking About Health; Why Health Communication Matters

And when the shoe is on the other foot in health communication, so that a patient wants to reject treatment or medication, what then?

Jauary 17, 2012

Sometimes, life really is a race…

Here is my daughter pictured in a skull at the Head of the Charles rowing competition. Looking at it, I am thinking about how our discussion about conscience clauses ignores the other side of the story.

I was reminded of our right to refuse treatment based on our values and morals when I once more searched to find published research about how doctors, especially pharmacists, talk about these issues with patients when it means that a doctor/pharmacist is not going to provide medication or treatment.

Orr and Jensen conclude in the Journal of Medical Ethics,

“How should the clinician respond when a patient or family requests “inappropriate” treatment based on religious beliefs? As in all situations where there is disagreement about treatment options, good communication is the most important step towards resolution. The patient or family must clearly understand the medical situation. This may require repeated discussion, conversations with consultants,viewing of x-rays or other clinical data, or other efforts familiar to most clinicians. A management conference, which includes the patient/family, primary physician, consultants, bedside nurses and others from the care-team, is often the best way to ensure that such communication happens.” (1993, p. 145; http://jme.bmj.com/content/23/3/142.full.pdf+html)

The article’s title? “Requests for “inappropriate” treatment based on religious beliefs.”

I think the suggested course of communication in the decision-making scenario is a great model for how to talk about decisions when the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak…and the focus is conscience clauses and the provider’s religious beliefs.

Another perspective on prayer

January 13, 2012

OK. It’s been a long day. Need some laughter.

Why did Dr. Oz introduce Dr. Nemeh on his show today?

February 2, 2011

Well, with all the winter weather slamming the nation, I thought a picture to remind us of spring was in order…

Dr. Oz discussed healing through faith on the show today [http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/man-faith-healer-pt-1]. This is one of my favorite topics in health communication. Dr. Oz introduced Issam Nemeh who was very comfortable answering all kinds of questions. For example, “Couldn’t the lung mass have really been a virus that cleared up on its own?” “A biopsy showed it to be a mass… It was there and then it wasn’t.”

My favorite phrase used several times during the show by several people, including the host and the guest–“it isn’t ‘either’ — ‘or’. It can be both” They were referring to…healing through faith and Western medicine…working together.

In ‘Talking about health’, Tina Harris tells the story of her brother when he was young and the years that her family dealt with his breathing difficulties. Her brother had many hospitalizations and saw many doctors over almost five years. During all of that time, they prayed for a healing of Ken. Then, the family found a doctor who shared their faith. The family prayed with him. The comfort they had based on the shared faith guided them to feel comfortable with scheduling a surgery with the doctor, believing that God would use the doctor’s own faith and skill to improve their son’s health. Then, the miracle they had been praying for happened. Ken was healed. He no longer needed surgery…and as Tina said, her brother sings the Lord’s praises every week in church…

Tina and I have explored the topic of the role of religious faith for beliefs about genes and health. We find, of course, that some people do not believe in God. Religious faith is a strongly held value. In a nation founded on religious freedom and among citizens who largely claim to be religious, openly declaring one’s own lack of religious faith is not a declaration likely to be done with little thought behind it. But expressing belief in God is also not a declaration done with little thought, and finding a way to make a space for either in conversations about health is important…to health and healing…

How does Bret Michaels manage life-on-the-road and Type I diabetes?

August 9, 2010

I attended Bret Michaels concert at the Clearfield, PA county fair on Friday night. resized_bret_michaels_1_3059 It was a celebration of life. He thanked fans for their prayers and support for him during the past year. He literally seemed to breathe in the positive energy and well wishes of the fans at the concert. Which communicated something about health…. http://gantdaily.com/2010/08/07/bret-michaels-rocks-at-the-clearfield-county-fair/

As covered in the news and entertainment media, Bret had some life-threatening health events this year. He appeared on the show, ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ and, in fact, won… but during the season, he revealed his nearly lifelong efforts to manage diabetes. And he talked about the emotions he felt while waiting for news about whether his daughter had the disease.

I don’t know Bret or his daughter. But I do know that one of the reasons we don’t talk about health in our families is that we feel a sense of blame for the ‘bad’ things that got passed on to us through our genetic pool and a sense of responsibility about passing them along to our own biological children.

Try this: for every so called bad thing, make a list of the good things that were passed on to us and that we may pass on to others. When having those family health history conversations, balance the good with the not so good news.

It might be, for example, that Bret’s positive and affirming way of looking at life has a genetic component and that he will or has already passed on such resilience to his children. I suspect that at the very least, that attitude goes a long way toward helping him to manage life with a chronic condition like diabetes…