For weight-loss and better health: GP, Internet or allied health professional?

As a “healthcare consumer” the Dark Mistress has always found an integrative approach to be the way to go – go to the Doctor for diagnosis, and the allied health practitioner to find out what to do about it.
Doctors are great at telling you what you need to do, and bad at providing lifestyle guidance. The fitness instructor, the naturopath, the physio, the massage therapist, the osteopath, the dietician have always been the ones to really take the time to really look at the problem and work with you to find a solution. Even helpful GP’s work with time-pressure, and just don’t have the time to penetrate the ideas and perceptions of customers, or provide any strategies for changing health habits. How many times has a visit to the Doctor resulted in the completely unacceptable “you have X, it’s not that bad, monitor it and let me know if it gets worse”.
The growth of complimentary approaches to health over the past two decades has been led by consumers who wanted to go further, find out more, and work with their own bodies. There is no need to wait for things to get worse, if you use a modicum of nouse, do your own research, get familiar with your own body systems and work with them preventatively. Go to the Internet, target your own weight-loss goal, create a fitness plan, see a natural health practitioner, get your own stress relief strategies sorted – get real and work it out.
Things have come a long way – 25 years ago, Doctors did not even want to admit that regular exercise was good for you. Fitness and weight-loss were somehow not discussed. Now the evidence has caught up with health consumers, Doctors are spruiking it – do fitness activities, do them for 30 mins a day, make some load-bearing, reduce your chances of getting lots of bad stuff.
Hmmmm….the Dark Mistress is glad she did not wait for the era of suspicion between two types of health practitioner to end before she started work on her own weight-loss and health issues.
The era of suspicion between GP’s and allied health professionals however, does appear to be ending with the publication today of a book for GP’s on integrative medicine that is somewhat revolutionary. The book, by former AMA chief Dr Kerryn Phelps and Dr Craig Hassed, called “General Practice: The Integrative Approach” presents all the evidence-based complimentary health care practices in a format that is useful for Doctors.
This book is a welcome addition to the scene, because while there is palpable suspicion between Doctors and other health professionals who are working with their patients, patients won’t tell the Doctors all the things they need to know. Doctors need to be more welcoming to get the full story, and Patients who are taking an active interest in their health need to be more expressive. If you were a Doctor, would you rather work with a patient who politely nodded, or with someone who was communicating and taking an active interest?
The new book goes as far as noting areas where practices like meditation can help in managing illness. What was once considered “out there” is now mainstream.
Acceptance of complementary medicine from GP’s can only be a good thing for people who are taking an active interest in their own health. Imagine if your Doctor could contribute on weight-loss, fitness or stress-relief… . Good Health is lifestyle; it’s about time health professionals started working together with consumers who are taking an interest in their own health.

Yours,

The Dark Mistress Of Denial
The Balance Blog – A reflection on virtual life versus embodied life; ostensibly finding sunshine, holistic fitness, natural weight-loss and stress relief for an obsessed workaholic screen addict, with the occasional dig at the World Wide Web.