Oftentimes when we visit with clinicians or have contact with a healthcare professional, we may feel nervous or anxious. Even though we are guided to write down questions in advance, we usually don’t do it and forget what we wanted to ask. To that end, it is important for us to understand our health and make sure that our questions are answered.  It is equally important for us to understand what was said to us and what we are expected to do to follow medical recommendations. Keep reading for 5 quick tips on how to improve your communication skills with a health professional and understanding of medical recommendations:

• Ask questions. The healthcare system can be confusing, and we may not feel comfortable asking questions. Ask questions. Ask early. Ask often. Ask as many questions as you have. Ask as many people as you need to ask. If there are questions for the physician, ask them. If there are questions for the pharmacist, ask them. If there are questions about your insurance coverage, ask your insurance carrier. Keep asking questions until you understand.

• Clarify what was said to you. This is so important. When we hear something, especially medical terminology we may not know what is really being said or what we are expected to do. For example, it is recommended to ‘increase physical activity,’ what does that mean? For example, for some, ‘increase physical activity’ to some may mean to start walking for ~15 minutes once or twice per week. Some people may feel they already do enough physical activity because they walk over 10,000 steps while at work and do not need to increase physical activity. Still, others may think that physical activity is the gardening they do twice a week for about 2 hours. Because there are so many thoughts about how we might conceptualize ‘physical activity’ and what ‘increase’ mean, we should clarify exactly what was meant. This allows us to share our thoughts and gain understanding.

• Repeat your understanding of what was said back in ‘your language.’ It is very important for you to interpret what was said to you about your health in your words. What can happen when we are discussing healthcare is that something is said, and we interpret the words based on our experiences, knowledge, and beliefs among other things. When that happens, we rarely verbalize our interpretation, resulting in misunderstanding. For example, if a doctor recommends measuring glucose 3 times a day every day. It makes complete sense for a response to be, so I need to check my sugar in the morning, afternoon, and before I go to bed. By using our language and understanding, it now opens a dialogue and gains clarification.

• Confirm next steps. Even when we are given medical recommendations, we may not understand what we need to do next. If we are told to fill a new prescription, it may be helpful to confirm if it needs to be filled and taken the same day. Or we may need to confirm what is an acceptable timeline to fill and then start taking the new medication.

• Discuss any lifestyle or situational changes that may affect your health. Oftentimes, our situations change and may affect the ability to continue certain behaviors or activities related to our health. For example, if healthcare coverages changes and a prescription is no longer covered and becomes unaffordable, what would you do. Stop taking the medicine? Ration pills? Ask for samples until you can get the money to afford it? How about if you move and there is not a pharmacy within 20 miles of where of where you live? It’s always a great idea to share any changes with your healthcare team.