Why do we take medicines or undergo surgeries despite the costs, pain and risks of side-effects? Because they get us to a better place than where we are. This is what this patient-blogger named as the “Controlled Burn Strategy”, perhaps better known as the “Lesser of 2 Evils” conundrum.
But if you think you’re coping just fine despite what your doctor and all the test and scan results are telling you, why bother to keep seeing your doctor in the vain hope of extracting affirmation of your misguided denial? Such patients should just stay home and burn.
Global survey reveals dissonance in physician-patient communication for RA management
So this is the source of patients’ unmet expectations and physicians’ frustration: discordant communication.
Doctors think patients underestimate their disease, underestimate the efficacy of treatment, overestimate treatment side-effects; and are thus indecisive in “biting-the-bullet” to take the bitter pill, or to stay compliant with treatment.
Patients think doctors underestimate the impact of disease and treatment on their quality of life, and trivialise the risk, cost and burden to them should they make the “wrong choice”.
We need to communicate more empathetically: in each other’s shoes. But can we afford the time?
Communication and Compliance Go Hand in Hand
