Well, I'm not a Healthcare Professional, but I would think a Doctor would have to find out what motivates the patient.
Usually, Doctors say if you don't do this, then this bad thing will happen. An example might be "If you don't lose weight, you run the risk of early death or disability".
Examples of "Do This or Else" might be:
- "Change Your Life-Style" or "Take Better Care of Yourself",
- Reduce/Stop Alcohol Consumption and/or Recreational Drug Usage,
- Lose Weight and/or Eat Better
- Reduce and/or Manage Stress
- Show up for Medical or Therapy Appointments,
- Take Medication Regularly,
- Exercise Regularly,
- Socialize More, etc.
This "Do this or Else" approach might work with some people, but what motivates one person might not motivate another person. Some other examples of What Might Motivate Patients to Change are these or a combination of these:
- Longer Life
- Less Pain
- My Healthcare Costs are too high because of my current lifestyle. (Cost)
- Family members need me.
- What's in it for me, if I change?
- Life is passing me by, etc.
Might there be a better way to Motivate Patients? I think so, if the Doctor got to know the Patient better, perhaps via an Easy to Use Motivation Questionnaire to "see" what approach might work best for each patient, instead of "trial and error" motivation approaches, or Frustration on both the Doctor and Patient parts.
One way to Maximize the Motivation in each Patient would be Simple Motivation Testing. In this Testing, the Doctor would find out whether the Patient is Intrinsically Motivated or Externally Motivated - or some of both.
It seems like there is not a ready-to-use General Purpose Patient Motivation Questionnaire, yet. Here's what I found so far:
More out there folks, but still no Simple General Purpose Patient Motivation Questionnaire for General Practitioners.
So what can be done until such a Simple Test is developed, you might ask? Perhaps use or modify one of these Easy to Use Motivation Tests:
Conclusion -
There seems to be no General Purpose Patient Motivation Questionnaire for General Practitioners, yet. I think there will be in the future.
There are, however, Generic Easy to Use Motivation Questionnaires available now that might help until one for Patients is developed.
In any event, Doctors Please Get to Know Your Patients Better, especially those with Chronic Conditions.
Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.
Doesn't it make sense to consider a patient's personality in Diagnosing and Treating Symptoms, especially for Chronic Conditions.
Think about it. How we think greatly affects how we feel physically.
So how can Doctors Use Simple Personality Tests in Diagnosis and Treatment?
Well, first, here's a few links that show how Personality, Disposition, Traits, Temperament, etc. affect Physical Symptoms:
Personality and Disease - NCBI - NIH
Does unhappiness make you sick? The role of affect and neuroticism ...
The impact of personality on adult patients' adjustability to orthodontic ...
Illness Behavior and the Experience of Pain - Pain and Disability ...
The Relationship between Depression, Anxiety, Somatization ...
Linking Anger Trait with Somatization in Low-Grade College Students ...
Five-factor Personality Dimensions and 3 Health-related Personality ...
Somatic symptom disorder: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
Exploring symptoms of somatization in chronic widespread pain: latent ...
The association between medically unexplained physical symptoms ...
Does personality affect health-related quality of life? A systematic review
Personality and physical symptoms in nonpsychiatric patients ... - NCBI
Type D personality, physical symptoms and subjective stress: the ...
Temperament traits, social support, and trauma symptoms among HIV ...
Personality Traits and Chronic Disease: Implications for Adult ...
Personality Traits and Chronic Illness: A Comparison of Individuals ...
The Multiple Linkages of Personality and Disease - NCBI - NIH
Models of personality and disease: an interactional approach to type A ...
Stress and your personality type
Stress and coping. Personality and illness.
Personality Traits Predict the Onset of Disease - Semantic Scholar
So now that we know that a Patient's Personality affects Physical Symptoms, what can Doctors do to better Diagnose and Treat patients with Chronic Symptoms?
Well, here a few ideas:
There are Sophisticated Psychological OR Psychiatric Tests for Chronic Symptoms, but doesn't this sound like a lot of work for General Practitioners?
Perhaps what is needed is a Simple Personality Test for Doctor's Use.
If nothing else, the Doctor would get to know the Patient better, if the Doctor knew the Patient's Personality. What do you think?
Here are a few Simple Personality Tests that could be used right in the Doctor's Office or Waiting Room:
The Big Five Personality Test - Open Source Psychometrics Project
Quick Personality Test - 2 Minutes, Instant Results. - Psych Central
5 Minute Personality Test
Stress and your personality type
Printable personality tests
Discover what your digital footprints reveal about your psychological profile.
Conclusion - A simple in-office Patient Personality Test could be done to Improve Diagnosis and Treatment. Furthermore, this added feature could Improve Doctor-Patient Interaction.
Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.
I was just thinking - that what I write/invent about are EQ Adaptive Aids - Sci/Tech tools to help people recognize their own emotions
and those of others - especially for Health/Medical purposes.
Adaptive equipment are devices that are used to assist with completing activities of daily living. Hence, EQ Adaptive Aids could be Sci/Tech tools to help people recognize their own emotions and those of others. My work focuses on EQ Adaptive Aids for Health/Medical purposes.
Some examples of Health/Medical EQ Adaptive Aids are:
- Medical Monitor with Emotional Distress (Stress) and/or Pain Indicators and Relaxing Breathing Pacer.
- Patient/Doctor Stress Monitor
- Patient/Doctor Cumulative Stress Monitor
- Patient/Doctor "Stress Hot Button" Indicator
- Lots more applications of Health/Medical EQ Adaptive Aids - Stay tuned.
One of my goals is to write/invent about how the Psychological/Emotional Component of Physical Symptoms should be considered in Diagnosis/Treatment, especially for Chronic Conditions. I write/invent about Sci/Tech tools to accomplish the above.
- A big goal for me is to Improve Doctor-Patient Interaction using EQ Sci/Tech Tools.
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Here's a link to better explain EQ -Emotional intelligence - Wikipedia -"Emotional intelligence (EI), Emotional leadership (EL),Emotional quotient (EQ) and Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EIQ),[1] is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions
and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them
appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior,
and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve
one's goal(s).[2]
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Here's some links on Emotional Adaptive Aids....
Interested? Contact me.
Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.
