Communication key to blending CAM, conventional care

A successful therapeutic relationship between patient and health care provider can be one of the most important factors in maintaining good health.

This therapeutic relationship is strengthened by open communication of your personal beliefs about health and your expectations for your health care. Yet, many people may feel uncomfortable talking with their health provider openly.

This article discusses ways in which you, as a patient, can communicate your health beliefs and health expectations to ensure that you receive the best conventional or complementary, alternative health care possible.

If you are currently using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), make sure to tell your conventional (“Western”) provider. If your conventional provider does not ask you about your interest in CAM, then bring it up yourself! This will help to ensure that CAM is used safely, appropriately, and in coordination with the care you receive from your conventional provider.

Remember, your appointment is your time to ask questions and talk about your health care goals and beliefs.

Make sure your conventional provider knows what CAM treatments you are using, and bring your CAM medicines with you in their original containers.

Help your conventional provider understand the way your personal beliefs impact your health choices.

Ask your conventional provider to tailor your medical treatment to your personal beliefs in a way that is not harmful to your health.

Request that your conventional provider send copies of office visit notes to your CAM provider.

Open communication with your CAM provider involves being an informed consumer of your own health care.

Ask your CAM provider about their training, licensure, and certification, which can vary widely between practitioner.

Ask about the diseases and treatments the practitioner specializes in, and whether they frequently see patients with your specific problem.

Ask how they will evaluate that the treatment is working for you and whether you are having any adverse effects from the treatment.

Request that your CAM provider send copies of your office visit notes to your conventional provider.

If you are pregnant and thinking about receiving labor and delivery care from a lay midwife, open communication is vital to your health and the health of your baby. The ultimate goal in any labor and delivery should be the arrival of a healthy baby.

Ask about training, licensure, and certification of your midwife.

Ask how the midwife will assess the baby’s status throughout labor.

Ask how the midwife will know if things are going badly, and request to be transferred to the hospital as soon as possible if anything about your labor is out of the routine.

Remember, there are many health practices and health practitioners to choose from, but ultimately it is your responsibility to be informed about your options, to think critically about whether the various available treatments are right for you, and to speak openly with your health provider about your beliefs and your expectations.

? Erin Lester is a third-year medical student at the University of Washington who has spent 20 weeks in Sandpoint as a participant in the WRITE Program.