Information Therapy

Information is the most important tool your healthcare clinician can offer you.  In fact, I have often heard that our goal as clinicians should be to provide information therapy to our patients. Basically, this means you are given the information on your condition or health from your clinician, and then you make the decision on what you want to do with that information. This may seem like common sense to many, but, the truth is that the vast majority of people go to the doctor to be given directives. Sometimes people look upset  when the doctor gives them the information needed, and then empowers them to make their own decision on which route to take. This is especially true when our culture effects how we perceive our health. When it comes to long term illness, there are often ways to improve quality of life without providing a cure. This is important to understand in each unique situation we face. Our cultural perspective can also hinder or enhance our understanding of our unique health situation.

Its easy to overlook the impact that our culture can have on our perception of disease. As nurses, we are challenged to try to understand and respect a patient’s cultural perspective on the treatment and prevention of disease. Having worked in the Amazon for many years, I came face to face with understanding the importance of cultural influence on a person’s health choices. I think of the little baby boy from a remote indigenous tribe, in a coma, struggling to fight meningitis. He was given a 25% chance to pull through on the IV antibiotics. The parents concern was that we were only giving the baby water (IV fluid) and not rice, fish and bananas. They were convinced this is what led their little boy into a coma. Thankfully, after a few days of IV antibiotics the little guy was able to fight off the meningitis, and recovered completely. His parents ideas of IVs changed after that, and they were more willing to entrust their children to modern healthcare. And yet, my goal the whole time was to make sure they understood the importance of the IV antibiotics, so they could make an informed decision.

When you visit a healthcare clinician, I think it is important to recognize that medicine, like any other area,is a dynamic field. I want to encourage everyone to gather as much information as possible when it comes to your individual health, and in so doing, hopefully make an informed decision about the route you wish to take; even if that does mean deciding contrary to the guidance you may have received.