A Good Relationship With Your Doctor Can Be Good For Your Health

Contributor
September 27, 2022

If you’re a person living with HIV (PLHIV) then you are more than casually acquainted with the healthcare system: ongoing tests and assessments; new medications to try. It’s easy to get lost in multi-syllable jargon, confused by statistics, overwhelmed by options. That’s why having a healthcare provider you can talk to and confide in is so important.

While medications can go a long way to improving your physical health, it’s been proven that having a good, mutually respectful relationship with your healthcare provider can improve your health overall. One of the largest studies of its kind, the ViiV Positive Perspectives Survey, Wave 2 (2019) gathered responses from 2,389 PLHIV across 25 countries in an effort to ascertain levels of satisfaction and areas of need with regard to general healthcare. The survey results indicate that good communication between a doctor and a PLHIV is a key factor in people reporting more positive outcomes.

You and your doctor are a team. You should feel comfortable asking questions about medications and letting your doctor know if they’re working and how they affect you. You should also feel free to discuss how you’re feeling generally. Are you getting out, seeing friends, engaging in activities, doing things to improve your quality of life? If you don’t think you can have those sorts of discussions with your doctor, then try looking for someone else in the area with whom you’re more compatible.

When you have rapport with your doctor, you work together in partnership. You make decisions together and discuss the outcomes freely.

The more your doctor gets to know you, the better they can take a holistic approach to your care. There’s more to you than just symptoms. You and your life are complex. Your friends, family, work, lifestyle, and personality all inform who you are and how you’ll feel about your health.

Together, you and your doctor can think about long term goals. By using a quality of life tool like the PozQoL Digital Tool, which you can find at https://pozqol.viivhealthcare.com, you can keep track of your progress and see what’s working.

Looking to the future and being able to plan ahead are significant elements in determining quality of life. So are things like independence, agency, and being heard.

According to studies, PLHIV often report poorer quality of life than the general population. This may be due to the way that ageing and other illnesses affect them more adversely. Many PLHIV belong to the LGBTQ+ community and may experience particular issues around discrimination, misunderstanding, privacy, isolation or other specific issues. It’s important for your healthcare provider to know about these things, or at least be aware that you have additional concerns so that they can take them into consideration when thinking about your care plan.

In the Positive Perspectives survey cited above, Australia was high on the list of countries that measured favourably on satisfaction with HIV care. However, many Australian participants reported they were unhappy with their mental health and were concerned about long term side effects of HIV treatment. When these concerns aren’t addressed by healthcare providers it leads to anxiety and other negative mental and emotional responses, which, in turn, may lead to lower quality of life.

Studies have proven that a holistic approach to healthcare, a good relationship between a PLHIV and their doctor, and a patient-centred focus, can all contribute to elevated quality of life.

Book a long, face to face consultation with your doctor at least once a year, and more often if you can.

Sponsored by ViiV Healthcare