Hi Byte Wellness Family!

We are right in the middle of the winter holiday season, and we’re 1 week away from a brand new year… we’re almost there! Pat yourself on the back for making it this far. And, if you’re reading this, it means you’ve come this far while making your health and wellness a priority. NOT an easy thing to do with all that’s happening in the world.

We’re so thankful to have you all in our Byte Wellness community. Frankly, you deserve all the health and happiness. That’s why we STAY dropping these wellness gems.

In the Daily Wellness Text chat this week, we unpacked the quality of the relationship we have with our healthcare providers. Specifically, we’re interested in how we and our providers make decisions about the best ways to prevent and manage our health conditions. Usually, the ideal balance of decision-making takes into account your provider’s expertise AND your own experiences, values, and preferences..

Before we dive into that, let’s ponder the discussion questions from this week.

Discussion Questions from This Week:

• What doctors or nurses have you interacted with who made you feel comfortable/safe? What was it about them that gave you those feelings?
  Another way to look at these questions is “what was it about your interaction with the doctors and nurses that made you feel UNCOMFORTABLE or UNSAFE?”

Are You and Your Doctor Practicing Shared Decision-Making?

The SDM-Q-9 is a survey used by researchers to measure how much the decision-making power around a specific treatment decision was shared between healthcare provider and patient.

Most importantly, for our purposes, this survey is in the patient’s perspective.

Scroll down to see how you would rate your last provider interactions

There’s no right or wrong response. But, your answers can give you insight into how balanced your treatment discussions have been with your provider.

Pro-tip: you can repurpose the 9 statements in the survey as questions that can prompt your provider to share the decision-making process with you a bit more.

If you've talked with your provider about sharing medical decision-making, but your provider isn't willing (or able) to take your values and perspectives into account in deciding how to treat your conditions, it might be time to find another one...seriously.

Check sites like https://healthinherhue.com and https://blackdoctors.org to find directories of docs who might be more inclined to value your perspective and lived experiences.

Leave a comment or text me to let me know how much of the healthcare decision-making process you’re sharing with your doc. And, if you have one of those tough conversations to shift the decision-making power, let me know how that goes, too!

Leave a comment or text me to let me know how much of the healthcare decision-making process you’re sharing with your doc.

Happy Healthy Living,

Dr. Wuse