WASHINGTON — Doctors may have a powerful tool they’re failing to use: a patient’s friends and family.
A perspective published by the New England Journal of Medicine Thursday said more doctors should get them involved in patients’ health.
“So much of medicine right now is based on connections between a doctor and a patient, and yet so much of health happens in all of the hours when you’re not in front of a doctor,” said David Asch, M.D., MBA, a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation.
People already have gym buddies, share diet goals and try to quit smoking together. Asch believes that getting health care providers to suggest social support wouldn’t be that different.
“Maybe doctors and hospitals ought to set things up so it’s easy for people to form these kinds of alliances,” Asch said.
Counseling people to manage diabetes, for example, might involve suggesting they talk to people with similar issues: “other patients who have diabetes, who can become peer mentors to each other — sort of reciprocal mentors,” he said.
Being self-conscious about health problems is a missed opportunity, said Asch, who suggests people ask for help.
“A lot of people see health and health care issues as very private,” Asch said. “But if I’m willing to be helped, then that’s really the first step. And the next step is really to find people who are willing to help you.”
Patients can ask spouses, friends and family to do things such as monitor restaurant menu choices, or take regular walks, or remind them to take daily meds.
“People who have much more social support tend to live healthier lives,” Asch said.
