3 Top Tips for Building a Relationship with a Senior’s Physician

doctor and elder patientIf you are the caregiver for a Massachusetts elder, part of your role might be attending physician appointments with them. The patient-doctor relationship is increasingly important as we age and most people recognize that. Many, however, aren’t quite sure how to go about building a strong relationship with their senior loved one’s very busy physicians.

Building a Strong Patient-Doctor Relationship

Here are a few suggestions that can help: 

1. Be Organized.

One of the best ways to build a good relationship with a physician is to organize your questions and concerns before the appointment. A good method for doing so is by keeping a daily health journal. A page-a-day calendar can work well for this. Document your loved one’s symptoms, struggles, and changes for each day of the month. Depending on their health problems, it is sometimes helpful to track what they ate and drank each day too. The day before you take your family member to their physician, review and summarize information from the journal. Have questions and concerns organized and ready to share with their physician during the appointment.

2. Keep an Updated Medical File.

Another important part of building physician relationships is helping to coordinate the care between multiple physicians. It can be challenging, especially if they aren’t all part of the same health care system. Your medical file for your senior loved one should include copies of all medical tests and results, a current list of medications, a medical history, a list of allergies, and a contact sheet with all of their physicians’ names, addresses, and phone numbers. Make extra copies of everything and take it with you to each of their appointments. That way you can provide each physician with updated information.

3. Follow Doctor’s Orders.

Physicians will tell you this is one of the greatest challenges they face in patient care. For a variety of reasons patients don’t or won’t follow orders. It might be by not losing weight or by failing to comply with a medication they have prescribed. Be sure you take good notes at each physician visit and then follow-up with what they recommend. If your senior loved one isn’t able to follow their advice, let their physician know. It might be because their insurance company won’t pay for a medication or because of the medication’s side effects. Whatever the problem, communicate it to their physician. Then let them decide what to do next.

These tips should help you build a respectful and confident partnership with your aging parent physicians.

We’re here to answer questions and help you make the best decision for care for you or your loved one. We invite you to reach out and talk with one of our care specialists at Fall River Jewish Home today! CALL 1.508.679.6172, where assistance is just a phone call away. 

 

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