Do patients want their healthcare provider to take the time to discuss nutritional supplements, diets, and exercise? The answer is “Yes.” Increasingly, patients are seeking someone they trust to guide them through the overwhelming amount of information and marketing they encounter through the internet, TV, and radio.
If you are a healthcare provider, how do your patients see you? If you are a patient, how do you typically interact with your healthcare provider(s)?
· As the person to go to only when problems exist?
· As an expert on how to help them maintain good overall health?
Information surrounds your patients, promoting the latest and greatest diet or product that promises healing, health, and happiness.
The internet is loaded with websites offering health ideas and products. Infomercials and podcasts feature celebrities sharing their insights on miracle products, while documentaries showcase the results of new and wonderful diets. Your patients have access to hundreds of resources that claim to offer the latest health information or products designed to improve their health and even cure their ailments. Attempts to influence patients through various marketing channels aim to convince us of their expertise and encourage us to buy their products.
Now more than ever, patients can view themselves as experts regarding their health, thanks to the information they have read, especially with the numerous medical websites available on the internet. If a patient feels they are more knowledgeable about diets and nutritional supplements than their healthcare provider, they may make poor decisions that can affect medication interactions or have worse consequences.
There are medical communities around you that have rules healthcare providers must adhere to that can hinder a patient from seeing their healthcare provider as their health and nutrition advocate they can trust. When patients experience this, many will seek out other providers who can help them find the best supplements to support their good health.
Many providers leverage this point of differentiation that they have versus the institutional healthcare providers.
· In many clinical systems, the amount of time a provider can spend with a patient is limited by tight schedules that the provider must follow. Communication focuses on the immediate problem that brought the patient. If the patient has questions regarding something they saw or heard about a type of diet or supplement, there is very limited time available to educate them, and answers can tend to be brief and rushed, potentially undermining their position as an expert and advocate.
· Without the time to explain an answer, the patient may see the provider as sharing only their opinion towards the idea that was brought up.
· As the healthcare system changes, the relationship between a patient and their healthcare provider can be short-lived. Without developing the relationship between the provider and their patient, the provider may be identified only as a problem solver and not an advocate for the patient's overall health.
If you are a healthcare provider, consider the following ideas to help your patients view you as their advocate, protecting them from misinformation.
· Many healthcare providers are now being proactive by developing handout materials that are presented when asked about the latest diets and supplements being promoted on the internet and media.
· Not all materials need to be created from scratch, as there is an abundance of great materials available from reputable manufacturers, health support organizations, and websites. Some research and a little effort can yield valuable information to share with your patients. Some areas of interest you may consider sharing information on are:
o Physical exercise parameters
o New diets people are interested in
o Supplements and food that support brain health, gut health, and immune health
· Another idea that some healthcare providers are utilizing is to have patients complete a short questionnaire before their appointment, asking about any recent changes in their lives, concerns, and any general questions they may have, including questions about supplements and diets. This information may help you make the most of the time you have together. Allowing your patients to ask questions in this way grants them access to your knowledge about the various diets, supplements, and lifestyles that are currently popular.
· Be open-minded and spend a little time looking into the pros and cons of the latest items being shared and communicated with them by their friends and marketing.
Do your patients see you as an expert in nutritional supplements and diets?