How do you communicate with a patient with chronic (long-term) disease?
It is surprisingly difficult to define a chronic (meaning ‘long-term’) condition. Some say over 12 weeks. The CDC in the USA defines a ‘chronic disease’ as “one that lasts 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both”.
Either way. This is important as 6 in 10 adults have one chronic condition, and 2 in 10 have two. These are the commonest:
- IHD
- Cancer
- COPD
- Stroke
- Dementia
- Diabetes
- CKD.
So. How can you improve your medical terminology for people with chronic conditions?
1. Don’t define people by their condition. People do not want to be defined (or judged) by their condition.
2. See the person. It is important to see the person and not the medical condition.
3. Doctors don’t do adverbs. So please do not call someone with epilepsy, diabetes, alcohol problem, dementia, hypertension or schizophrenia, an ‘epileptic, diabetic, alcoholic, dement, hypertensive or schizophrenic’. Next is how you can.
4. Turn sentences around. It is more helpful to say ‘a person with illness X’, than an ‘illness X-ic’ person.
5. People are not victims. A ‘victim’ or ‘sufferer’ implies someone is helpless. This is also not helpful language when describing people with any chronic disease. It’s better to say a ‘person is affected by or lives with epilepsy (for example)’.
6. Teach hope. You can do this teaching people to ‘manage’ or ‘control’ their condition – not ‘cope with’. Coping suggests a degree of desperation rather than hope.
7. Introductions are very important. People with chronic conditions meet a lot of doctors and get fed up with us. So greet your patients with a smile and their name when you see them – not ‘you have diabetes I hear’. Never underestimate the power of small talk. Establish a human connection the moment you walk into the room.
This is not semantic twaddle .. it’s about respect. Would you like to be defined by your condition?
Summary
We have described how do you communicate with a patient with chronic (long-term) disease. We hope it has helped you.
