The other expert in the doctor’s room
There is a case for treating patients as equals in their own care.
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Doctors seek to persuade patients to change their habits, but a lifestyle cannot be prescribed, says the writer.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Haresh Singaraju
Doctors often prescribe a plan for the patients they see, but I often think of a patient I saw years ago – a hawker in his 50s, whose average blood sugar levels had barely budged across a dozen consultations. Every visit, I told him what to eat less of. Every visit, he agreed. Nothing changed.
One afternoon, breaking from routine, I asked a different question – a question that came from reflection that this patient clearly cared about his health, as he always returned promptly for his follow-up, yet we had not been able to move the needle on his blood sugar control: “What does a normal day actually look like for you?”