Advocating for Your Health: It Could Mean the Difference Between Life and Death
This week’s Piloting Your Life (the podcast) episode is all about how the healthcare system is failing women and what we can do to better advocate for our own health and healthcare. I did some research and consolidated some suggestions from a number of places and discuss in more detail in episode 91 of the podcast with my producer Jacqueline.
1. Trust yourself; listen to your body; don’t second guess yourself
2. Be honest with your doctor
3. Be persistent and don’t let yourself get gaslit (refer back to point 1)
4. Don’t worry about being difficult
5. Be prepared for appointments and conversations which includes documenting your health situation with timelines and notes.
6. If you don’t like the diagnosis, get a second opinion
7. Ask for your records and insist on good data in your records
8. Repeat yourself if the information is important like an allergy or something you need for an appointment
9. Follow up; don’t assume that someone will do as they say
10. If you are a woman, bringing a man with you to your appointments could get you heard better (I can’t believe I had to suggest this but apparently it’s been proven to work)
11. Ask questions if something is unclear or you want to better understand something
12. Don’t let the doctors or nurses rush you
13. If you are a woman, when prescribed medications, ask if the drugs were clinically tested on women and what the results were
14. If you are a woman, ask how accurate the diagnostics are for women and if they were even clinically tested on women
15.Become an informed healthcare consumer through research and education
The healthcare system is failing us women on all levels but that doesn’t mean we should accept it. We deserve better. Don’t let the healthcare system drive your health; take ownership of it and get the care you need and deserve.
