When it comes to preventative care, the first step is having a healthcare professional with whom you feel comfortable enough to speak candidly about your health.
Liz Al Bayati, a family medicine nurse practitioner with Mercy Clinic Primary Care-Jefferson, said one of her biggest goals in patient care is building a foundation of trust.
“That is something that primary care providers really try to focus on so when some of the bigger stuff comes up, or some of those sensitive topics occur, patients feel comfortable and can rely on their trusted providers. I think finding somebody that they can relate to, they feel comfortable with, and they have confidence with, is the primary driver there with health outcomes in men specifically,” Bayati said.
Bayati said part of building that foundation of trust is learning how each individual patient prefers to communicate.
“With my new patient appointments, the first thing I ask them is, ‘What do you think you need from me?’ because I will truly shape it and meet you where you need, but you just have to tell me what is your approach,” Bayati said.
Finding a provider to trust
Bayati said one of the best things a patient can do is to choose a provider who they trust and with whom they are willing to be totally honest. She recommends patients look up providers on a hospital website and see if there are any they naturally gravitate toward before scheduling an appointment. Then, come to the first appointment with some questions about that provider’s approach to care.
“Are they more likely to pick out a medication or are they more likely to go after root-based causes of what is truly driving this? Are they going to give me one option or are they going to go through my top three options? Will that provider give me the tools I need to make the best-informed decision for myself or are they just going to give me one answer of what I need to do?”
Bayati said her approach to care involves getting back to the basics of making sure the patient has a good quality of life by getting adequate sleep, mental rest, low stress, eating nutritious meals, exercising and taking time for socialization with family and friends.
Bayati said one of the biggest things she can provide at yearly visits is education, providing counseling on lifestyle, diet, exercise, sleep, alcohol and smoking. She said it’s important during these visits to provide a judgment-free zone.
“They should feel comfortable that they can disclose all of the things that they’ve partaken and not be scolded about anything that they’re doing. They should always be able to be honest. I think that that’s the biggest thing is building the trust with the provider.”
She said building trust can also help when it comes to mental health screening, which she said requires a level of comfort and the ability to be vulnerable to talk about sensitive issues. She said discussing mental health issues, even if they aren’t pertinent at that exact time, can help a patient realize when something may be going wrong and know they can discuss it with their primary care provider.
Men’s preventative care
Bayati said the attitudes toward men’s preventative care have evolved in recent years, along with alternative care options.
“The stigma around men caring about their health is really changing. They desire to age well, be energized and stay sharp.”
Bayati said it’s important for even young healthy individuals to start going into a primary care doctor for yearly visits where they can have their vital signs taken and have any lab work done, if appropriate. She said if the lab work looks good for young patients, it does not necessarily have to be done every year, which can be a relief to those with a fear of needles.
“Needle phobia is significant. And I think specifically with men, they’re meant to be strong, or at least they try to live up to that, and to go in and be put in a vulnerable state I think deters them a little bit.”
Bayati said patients should be aware that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare, and alternative options are available to those who want them.
“If going for an IV poke is too scary, there are other alternative ways to assess health. We can do weight measurements, we can do body composition review, review healthy lifestyle, see if they are having any signs and symptoms of a metabolic dysfunction. That will build our case if we really do need to get labs done, but I like to let them know that that’s not something that we’re going to have to push for. It’s very much what they feel comfortable with.”
Bayati said usually labs start pretty regularly around the age of 30, depending upon risk factors and patient symptoms. She said regular testicular cancer examinations should begin early, by age 20; prostate cancer screenings should start by age 50; and colon cancer screenings should start around the age of 45.
She said the fear of a colonoscopy should not deter patients from getting colon cancer screenings.
“There are alternatives to a full colonoscopy. There are at-home stool kits that patients sometimes feel more comfortable with.”
Bayati said she wants patients to know that while she is able to guide them with information about potential benefits or risks or any treatment or screening, the patient ultimately decides what is right for themselves.
“I feel like patients do better when they know that they do have some choice and some options to align with what their personal goals are,” Bayati said. “It’s ultimately your decision to decide how you want to live your life and what services I have to offer you.”