Getting the Most Out of Doctor’s Visits: Four Essential Tips / Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Nancy Treaster (0:53)

Are you unsure how to get the most out of your loved one's doctor's appointments?

In this episode, Sue and I are talking with Dr. Paul Nussbaum, Chair of the MDR Champagne Center for Brain Health, about how to rethink your role in doctor's visits. We're sharing four tips.

Sue Ryan (1:12)

Welcome.

Nancy Treaster (1:12)

We are Sue Ryan and Nancy Treaster.

Sue Ryan (1:15)

This podcast brings our years of experience in a variety of family caregiving roles to prepare you to navigate your caregiving journey.

Nancy Treaster (1:23)

We're sharing our personal experiences, not medical advice, and because it's our passion to support you on your journey, we believe no topic is off limits.

Sue Ryan (1:38)

Many of us leave our doctor's appointments feeling intimidated, confused when we want to feel empowered and partnering in our solutions with our care receiver. Paul, we're so glad you're here with us today.

Please share some more about your background and experience in this very important area.

Paul Nussbaum (1:56)

Well, Susan and Nancy, first of all, thank you so much for having me on and I celebrate your great work here with The Caregiver's Journey. I'm Dr. Paul Nussbaum.

I'm a neuropsychologist by training. I'm licensed in Florida and in Pennsylvania. And a million years ago, I had a fascination with the human brain and was really involved in writing quite a bit on things you all know about called Alzheimer's disease and different dementias. Paid a lot of attention to what it meant to be a caregiver for those individuals living with dementia. I was publishing quite a bit, speaking in scientific presentations, giving keynotes. It was interesting about 20, 25 years ago, it struck me I wasn't kind of doing what I wanted to do. And so I decided I was really always interested in health.

Didn't leave the sort of the bucket of caring for people with Alzheimer's and the care providers, but I wanted to get out the message of how to keep our brains healthy, and our bodies healthy to the general public. So taking that message I learned in the scientific world, and to the dinner tables across the country so people could benefit. I think you're right. I think the visit to the doctor can be scary. It can be intimidating. It can be confusing. We're kind of told we're supposed to be in this position, a hierarchical position, and the clinicians up here and maybe I'm down here as the client. I want us to rethink that a little bit today in our podcast.

Nancy Treaster (3:24)

Paul, one of the things Sue and I were most impressed with, which is why we asked you to be on this podcast with us, is you have such a unique way of thinking about doctor's visits. You've been both a caregiver and a clinician, and it brings a really unique perspective.

So let's get started. Tell us about your first tip.

Paul Nussbaum (3:45)

So the first tip really for everyone listening today is to get in the proper state of mind. So you may be the care provider, you're caring for somebody who's living with dementia.

What I want you to understand, I want you to understand this from Dr. Nussbaum right now. You are actually the boss.

If you were going to come see me, I'm your employee, you're paying me, okay? Now think about that. Doesn't the boss usually pay the employee? And so I want you to feel empowered. I want you to rethink where you are, because you're gonna be the one responsible for our next three steps, which is to convey, communicate, set up a strategic plan with the doctor, but I want you to feel empowered that you need to get your mindset that you're going into this meeting, you're preparing by getting your mind straight first, that you're in charge, okay? And you do that in a civil way, in a friendly way, but I want you to kind of build and feel empowered to be confident, because you're actually the most knowledgeable person of this whole team. When we think about having a clinician in the room, it can be very helpful, but you know the most, okay? So you have much to offer and you got to steer it, okay? So I want you to feel confident about that. And I want you to understand that if something's working or it's not working, you need to be able to communicate that. All right? So it just begins step one, getting your mindset in terms of what your role is. It's not passive. You're steering the boat, okay?