GET READY FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT
Appointments with your healthcare professional are a key part of finding control of your atopic dermatitis (AD). However, it can be difficult to make the most of the appointment as you may only have a small window of time to cover a lot of ground. But don't worry, this doctor discussion guide will help you prepare for your appointment to make the most of your conversation.
SETTING GOALS FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT
Goal setting with a healthcare professional can be beneficial for people living with long-term conditions5. It may help you feel more in control to start thinking beyond your day-to-day, and reduce the impact of atopic dermatitis on your quality of life. Some tips for setting goals include:
1. Think about your current life with atopic dermatitis
Consider how AD is impacting your life? It might be little day-to-day things or bigger personal milestones. How does it make you feel? Has your AD been getting in the way of something that’s important to you?
2. Think about what you want from the future
What would you like to be different from this point on? This could include improving certain symptoms or gaining better control of your AD. What do you want to be able to do? Something you’ve always wanted to do, or something you used to enjoy, but have stopped doing. Whatever your goals are, they should be personal to you.
3. Prioritise your goals
The next step is getting your goals down on paper. Make a list of your goals, then review them to make sure the ones that are most important to you are at the top.
4. Break each goal into smaller ones
If you want to aim for something big or long term, break your goal down into achievable smaller chunks so you can work towards it step-by-step. This can also help you to think through the challenges you might face along the way, so you can prepare how you will deal with them.
5. Review your progress
Set yourself reasonable time limits for achieving individual tasks and check in on your progress at regular intervals.
6. Share your goals with a dermatologist
It’s important to get the right support from the right people. Sharing your goals with a dermatologist means they can offer you expert help to achieve them.
WHAT TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR
Can you tell me more about the cause of my AD and how I can manage that?
I keep on having flares, is there any way we can prevent them?
How can I stop AD affecting my sleep so much?
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR APPOINTMENT
Once you've learnt about your condition, reflected on the burden of your AD, and started to track your AD, now what? Even though you're armed with the right tools, your healthcare professional is best placed to help you achieve long-term control.
To help make the most of your time with them, we've made a list of important points to remember for your appointment:
Set an objective for your appointment
If you're struggling to set an objective, try using the tips below to get you started. Show
Bring notes
Whether it's your answers answer to the ADCT questionnaire or notes from your journal, these resources will be a useful prompt for questions, and I'll give your doctor a clear picture of how your AD is affecting your quality of life.
Bring photo evidence
Show evidence of how your AD has changed since your last appointment. You might not be having a flare when you see your healthcare professional, so it’s useful to show them the full picture of how your skin has been doing over time.
Be open, be curious
Allow yourself to honestly discuss your AD, to look closer at the ways it affects you, to reflect on how you live with your condition. With the right approach, you can Change AD.
