Importance Of Patient Counselling For Rapid Recovery
Answer a question for me, who do you think will heal faster..?
Patient A : Taking medicines as and when remembers, left alone most of the time, nobody to guide him properly, lives with an unknown fear in his mind. No idea about his health issues.
Patient B : Counselled by a medic on proper medicine adherence. Loved and cared for by his family and friends, is aware enough to know about his medical conditions and recovery process.
Effective counselling brings out therapeutic results when done right. More than non-adherence to medication, the patients’ health is affected by the lack of knowledge and understanding about their medical condition.
Patient counselling can be defined as advising the patient about the medicine dosage, directions for use, lifestyle and dietary changes to be followed during the medication period. In certain cases, the patient requires a caretaker or a kin to address their needs. Under such circumstances, they are also counselled by the doctor.
When we talk about care-givers, it becomes utmost important that the doctors educate them about the patient’s condition. Both mental and physical state in a detailed manner — Kivihealth.com
These people will be working in close proximity with the patient, so they should be aware of every minute detail of their needs and requirements. Hence a comprehensive session with the medic is a must for the immediate helper to these patients in recovery.
A care-giver is decided only when the patient is incapable to the extent of needing an extra help for his daily needs. Therefore, even a tiny mistake or error of judgment can prove costly to the patient. The loss can be in terms of health, money and time for everybody involved.
One of the best things about having a dedicated care-giver is that the doctor can also share and discuss the case more liberally without being apprehensive about adding to the issues at hand while talking to a patient directly.
Doctors would generally avoid speaking about any sensitive subjects with the patients only to save them the trouble of mental agony and distress. Having a caretaker talk to the doctor, eases out these issues and also the work gets done as required.
The motive behind the patient counselling can be termed as;
#1. Providing comfort and guidance through in-depth patient assessment
A review study conducted by environmental psychologist Roger Ulrich and his team of doctors included the uses of modern medical research to get a quantified health result on the line of controlled experimental situations. This assessment was conducted on random patients recovering from a gall bladder surgery at a hospital in suburban Pennsylvania.
Patients were provided equal care and support apart from one small variance. The window view from each of their rooms. Few of them had a view of green leafy trees, flowers and shrubs, while a couple of them had no view or just a plain brick wall to look at. The patients with the garden view rooms healed faster, required less pain-reducing medicines and also had fewer post-surgical concerns compared to the no view / brick wall patients.
Based on such studies, nowadays hospital designs come with more open green spaces and water bodies to help the patients feel comfortable and recover faster. This experiment was considered a groundbreaking innovation in patient mental healthcare by the western world.
# 2. Imparting awareness about the proper use of medication and its adverse effects.
More than the bitter pills and painful injections themselves, what heals a patient faster is the correct manner of using the medicines. To get the maximum benefit of the treatment, a patient must follow the directions exactly as prescribed by the doctor. A wrong dosage can result in severe health concerns like reactions and allergies in patients, especially children and can also lead to a loss of life in certain cases.
As per the studies, 4 out of 10 people still do not take their medicines as prescribed by the doctors and end up being sick for a longer period of time.
A patient should always be aware of certain dos and don’ts of taking a medicine. Self-medication is strict no-no irrespective of the patient’s symptoms. They should never hesitate to ask the medic for instructions and if required, should write it down for future references. Advanced medical software like KiviHealth is preferred by doctors to send timely reminders to their patients during the treatment and recovery phase.
# 3. Motivating patients to be proactive in their health management.
Patient encouragement is techniques are crucial for the doctors who are trying to treat a chronically ill patient. Diagnosing and treating a patient is only half the battle for a doctor. The real win comes when the patient is healed and the health is restored to former glory. This becomes tough when the doctor is more concerned and active than the patient himself. The doctor needs to make sure that the patient is actively involved in his healthcare and is ready to work towards rebuilding his lost health and strength. They should be a willing participant in this endeavour. To motivate the patients, doctors have developed techniques and exercises that can be conducted during the recovery phase.
One such example that produced amazing results was the physically stimulating callisthenics for the war amputees in the USA. Those soldiers who lost their limbs in the battlefield were provided with a personal therapist like a buddy workout system who would go on a trek, cycling, swimming, playing sports and indoor games with their patients till the time they are fully recovered. This support system is very important to patients who have lost hope. Even the medicines don’t work if your mind tells you that you won’t survive. That how the human brain works. With motivation comes hope and with hope comes a rapid recovery of the overall health and wellness.
How does patient counselling improve patient care?
- Eradicates the medical errors and blunders committed in haste.
- Minimizes the drug reactions and side effects due to negligence.
- Rapid health restoration and recovery of the patient.
- Maximizes patient satisfaction with proper care.
- Listening to them helps in acquiring useful information about their point of view.
- Thinking from their perspective lets you gain an insight of patient psychology.
- Communicating verbally and non-verbally builds a rapport and confidence.
- Being objective clinically will assist the patient to gain more from their treatment in a short span of time.
- By being empathetic and encouraging, you help them achieve mental support and peace.
- Protecting their privacy and confidentiality helps them trust you and are more receptive to the therapy. Always be discreet in your interaction during the counselling sessions.
- Providing a genuine guidance and showing concern towards a person always helps. They heal faster with less trauma and impact of their illness.
Key points to be covered by Doctors during a patient counselling session are;
- Medication pattern — how, when, why and how much should the doses be off?
- Dietary intake — what food reacts to what medicines and should be avoided?
- Potential allergies and reactions — dos and don’ts during the medication in terms of lifestyle habits and customs.
- Precautionary steps during medication
- Medication storage and refills
- Prescription management
When a patient is physically sick, it takes time to recover completely based on the person’s immunity power and medical adherence. However, when the rational state of mind is disturbed or scared the physical recovery automatically gets delayed and affected. A calm and peaceful mind will monitor the body to restore at a faster rate while a chaotic and distressed mind will only hinder the process.
Hence a patient counselling on the clinical and psychological level is not only crucial but an essential therapeutic measure recommended by top medics and researchers across the globe.
