What do you need to know about the patient that is likely in the medical charts? Why? What will this information tell you about the patient?
You work at a local community health clinic as the behavioral health specialist. A clinic patient has just been diagnosed with [diabetes]. It is customary for this (enlightened) clinic to take a multidisciplinary approach to treatment, and you are part of the multidisciplinary team (MDT). In your role as a behavioral health specialist, you work along with the team to contribute your knowledge to build the best treatment possible for this patient. During MDT meetings, your input will help the others understand the needs and circumstances that surround this patient and may impact the success of treatment.
You set up an appointment with this patient for a 1-hour meeting. You must prepare for this first meeting by determining what you need to know, and what you will use with that information. Below are some questions to guide your plan:
- What do you need to know about the patient that is likely in the medical charts? Why? What will this information tell you about the patient?
- What do you need to know about the current life of the patient that is not in the medical charts? Why? What will this information tell you about the patient that will help you as part of the MDT? How will you ask the questions during the meeting to collect the information you need? Think broadly, from the interpersonal all the way out to the most outer level of the Social Ecological Model.
- Will you assess the patient’s understanding of the diagnosis, treatment, and potential outcome of the condition? Why? What will this information tell you about the patient that will help you as part of the MDT? What questions will you ask? Use Leventhal’s Common Sense Model to guide your work.
- Every member of the MDT must suggest potential actions to take with each patient to improve treatment outcome. These can be as simple as monthly check-ins or more comprehensive interventions. As the behavioral health specialist, with all the knowledge you obtained in this course, what are some possible recommendations you might make to the team and under what patient circumstances? Give at least three (3) examples of recommendations based on what you might learn from your questions for items 1–3 above. Be specific as to what you recommend, based on what potential factors about the patient. At least one of your recommendations should be associated with health behaviors (Module 3) and another specific to the fact that this patient will be involved in the health care system (Module 4). If you have a clinical background, you may use a combination of clinical and health knowledge for one of your recommendations.
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