Talking with your healthcare provider
How your health professional, family and friends can help you make important decisions about your health care.
Sharing the load
Understanding your health care can be tricky. There are often decisions you need to make about your health that can have an impact on your relationships, your day to day life and your emotional wellbeing.
Doing this with the support of your family or friends and with your doctor’s advice is called shared decision making.
Talking with your health professional
Shared decision making is about asking questions and discussing what’s best for you. It’s making sure you both have a clear understanding about your health and any medical conditions you may have.
It’s understanding:
- your medical condition and treatment options
- the benefits and risks of each option
- any medications you’re taking and if they’re still right for you
- what matters most to you and your desired outcomes
- what happens if you delay or don’t do anything
- if there’s an easier or less invasive option, such as making lifestyle changes like exercising more.
The more your health professional knows about you, the more likely you’ll get the care and support that’s right for you.
How your friends or family can help
Shared decision making can also involve talking to your family or friends.
Often the people closest to you understand the challenges you may be facing with your health and know what’s important to you.
Sharing and talking about the list of lifestyle questions and considerations we’ve developed may help with any decisions you need to make about your health care.
Knowing what you want, and what you don’t want before you see your health professional may also lead to a better outcome sooner.
We understand that making important decisions about your health can be overwhelming. We encourage you to bring a family member or a friend with you to any appointments with your health professional.
What sort of questions should I ask?
Sometimes the hardest part is knowing what to ask, so we teamed up with patients and their doctors to come up with a list of questions to get you started. Find out how to ask the right questions.
Case study
Helping a busy mum
Trudy is an independent parent with 2 young children. Feeling a bit unwell, Trudy saw her GP who prescribed a 2 week course of medication. As a busy mum, Trudy asked her GP if the medication had any side effects that might impact her caring for her children.
Her GP advised that side effects can include feeling tired, dizzy, or sleepy and she might not be able to drive while taking it. By talking to her GP about her situation, Trudy learned that she would need to plan ahead to arrange for her family to help with school drop off and pick ups, and be on hand if she needs anything else.
