Comments on: Coaching Patient Compliance http://alignmap.com/2007/03/12/coaching-patient-compliance/ Beyond Compliance, Adherence, & Concordance - Supporting The Patient's Implementation Of Optimal Treatment Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:58:51 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Oh Say can you C? Compliance, Colonoscopy and more « Every Patient’s Advocate http://alignmap.com/2007/03/12/coaching-patient-compliance/comment-page-1/#comment-2504 Oh Say can you C? Compliance, Colonoscopy and more « Every Patient’s Advocate Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:53:38 +0000 http://alignmap.com/2007/03/12/coaching-patient-compliance/#comment-2504 [...] Thursday, I posted a comment to a blog called AlignMap that is aimed at medical professionals (OK - so I eavesdropped) and showcases patient Compliance - issues that surround patients following a doctor’s instructions.  Issues such as: Do they or don’t they? Will they or won’t they?  Can we expect them to? And what if they don’t? etc etc.  The website and blog belong to Dr. Allan Showalter, a psychiatrist in clinical practice who has followed and written on the topic for years.  The blog I responded to regards a question about whether doctors should Coach elderly persons to comply.  Here’s the post and comment. [...] [...] Thursday, I posted a comment to a blog called AlignMap that is aimed at medical professionals (OK – so I eavesdropped) and showcases patient Compliance – issues that surround patients following a doctor’s instructions.  Issues such as: Do they or don’t they? Will they or won’t they?  Can we expect them to? And what if they don’t? etc etc.  The website and blog belong to Dr. Allan Showalter, a psychiatrist in clinical practice who has followed and written on the topic for years.  The blog I responded to regards a question about whether doctors should Coach elderly persons to comply.  Here’s the post and comment. [...]

]]> By: Trisha Torrey http://alignmap.com/2007/03/12/coaching-patient-compliance/comment-page-1/#comment-2500 Trisha Torrey Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:22:17 +0000 http://alignmap.com/2007/03/12/coaching-patient-compliance/#comment-2500 I cheer the idea of coaching patients, whether or not they are elderly. But I also understand the outcome of the Cochrane study. Behaviors developed over a 65+ year lifetime will not easily be changed. The elderly have spent that lifetime believing their doctors are God, and expecting that all medical decisions will be made for them, and in their best interest. Asking them to shift their mindsets, to really accept the reality of today's too-often dysfunctional system of healthcare in order to take on that responsibility themselves, is like asking doctors to diagnose without a stethoscope or blood pressure monitor. They just don't have the tools and are reticent to take the plunge. That does not mean, however, that doctors shouldn't try to help them. I suspect the 80/20 rule will apply here, and the benefits to at least the 20 percent of learning to advocate for themselves can be profound. Trisha Torrey EveryPatientsAdvocate.com I cheer the idea of coaching patients, whether or not they are elderly. But I also understand the outcome of the Cochrane study.

Behaviors developed over a 65+ year lifetime will not easily be changed. The elderly have spent that lifetime believing their doctors are God, and expecting that all medical decisions will be made for them, and in their best interest. Asking them to shift their mindsets, to really accept the reality of today’s too-often dysfunctional system of healthcare in order to take on that responsibility themselves, is like asking doctors to diagnose without a stethoscope or blood pressure monitor. They just don’t have the tools and are reticent to take the plunge.

That does not mean, however, that doctors shouldn’t try to help them. I suspect the 80/20 rule will apply here, and the benefits to at least the 20 percent of learning to advocate for themselves can be profound.

Trisha Torrey
EveryPatientsAdvocate.com

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