The Hidden Power of Patient Beliefs
It has been known for some time that patients develop their own beliefs about their illness and treatment.
We also know that these beliefs can play a central role in determining whether they seek medical help, how they respond to a medical consultation and how they cope with their illness treatment. These personal illness and treatment beliefs can be far more influential than what the doctor says in determining how someone deals with their illness.
Even though all of this is now well known, there is plenty of evidence showing that these beliefs are very rarely discussed in medical consultations. This is partly because patients may be reluctant to disclose them, or because they are just not provided with opportunities or time to share their ideas with their doctor. Also, it is unfortunate that doctors are not generally trained to elicit or respond to patient beliefs in routine consultations. This can have unfortunate effects, since patients often leave a medical consultation with a sense that the doctor has not really understood or dealt with what is worrying them about their illness or treatment. Since patients will evaluate the appropriateness of their treatment or advice in terms of their own beliefs about the nature of their problem, they may well be reluctant to follow the doctor’s recommendations.
As a result, in recent years there have been recommendations that gaining an understanding of the patient’s own beliefs and concerns should be a starting point and core component of the medical consultation. However, the reality remains that there is often neither the time nor the inclination to do this. As a way of bridging this gap in its support programs for medicines use or coping with illness, Atlantis Healthcare has placed great emphasis on the importance of taking into account each individual’s beliefs and concerns. Subsequent randomised control trials have delivered a proven, positive impact on adherence, and as a result Atlantis Healthcare interventions are informed by research findings in this area to provide patient support that is responsive to the needs of the individual and their own way of making sense of their condition.
Professor John Weinman PhD
Atlantis Healthcare Consultant
Professor of Health Psychology as applied to Medicine, Kings College, London, UK
