{"id":11470,"date":"2019-03-26T19:54:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T19:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dia.com\/blog\/?p=11470"},"modified":"2022-06-23T10:16:36","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T14:16:36","slug":"how-to-advocate-for-yourself-at-the-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dia.com\/blog\/wellness\/how-to-advocate-for-yourself-at-the-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Advocate for Yourself at the Doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Research has shown that patients receive poor medical care and treatment due to sizeism and biases within the medical profession.<\/a> This is a widespread issue amongst plus-size people<\/a>, even though these issues often feel very isolating and extremely personal. We sat down with Virgie Tovar<\/a>, author of You Have The Right To Remain Fat<\/em> and one of the nation\u2019s leading experts and lecturers on fat discrimination and body image,<\/em> to put together a list of tips to help you feel empowered to get the medical attention and care that you deserve. Think of this as a tool kit to empower people of all sizes to be their biggest health care advocate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip #1: You deserve to have a doctor who listens to you and observes your health holistically.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a well-documented issue in the medical field that weight-based biases lead many doctors to simply prescribe weight loss to plus-size patients, without consideration of the individual patient\u2019s circumstances. Weight loss is a go-to prescription for plus-size patients regardless of their symptoms. A disproportionate focus on weight can lead doctors to overlook symptoms indicating other serious, unrelated health issues.\u201d Because many doctors exhibit biases<\/a>, including weight bias, you may sense this and find that your current doctor isn\u2019t the right fit for you. Natasha shared her story<\/a> of being treated by biased doctors and even theCURVYcon founder CeCe Olisa recently shared her story too<\/a>. While there are many great doctors that are happy to respect their patients\u2019 boundaries and see beyond their patients\u2019 size, others are quick to jump to conclusions. If you don\u2019t feel good being around your doctor, it might be a sign that it\u2019s not a good fit. If they don\u2019t hear or accept your boundaries, that is another red flag. If you have a doctor that isn\u2019t open to respecting your boundaries or who pushes back saying things like, \u201cYou don\u2019t know what\u2019s best for you,\u201d it might be time to find a new doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you book an appointment with a new physician, Virgie recommends checking out Ample<\/a>, a resource you can use to discover if a doctor\u2019s office is accommodating, as it is full of reviews from other people living in marginalized bodies who rate various businesses on just how accessible they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip #2: You have the right to medical advice free from fat-negative bias or weight loss recommendations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you may want to discuss weight loss or gain with your doctor, you also should be able to receive medical advice purely about the symptoms you came in to discuss, without weight loss being recommended. With so many fat people not being treated properly<\/a>, it\u2019s important to remember that no matter your size, you should be able to seek the care you need for the symptoms that are on your mind. If you\u2019ve experienced something similar to Natasha\u2019s story<\/a>, it\u2019s important that you set this boundary with your provider so you can get the care you need and deserve. Virgie offered some language to use if you need to set this boundary with your doctor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need to tell you before we proceed that I do not want to hear about weight loss. I am only here to talk about the symptoms I made the appointment for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, CeCe wrote the sentence she uses to set boundaries with her doctors<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m a big girl and while I\u2019m open to hearing your thoughts on my weight, I hope you\u2019ll be able to support me with more than weight loss advice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you feel uncomfortable setting this boundary with your doctor, Virgie suggests role-playing with a friend to get comfortable breaching the topic. Have your friend pretend to be the doctor to practice until it feels natural to do so in a doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip #3: You have the right to terminate an appointment at any time, for any reason.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a young age, we\u2019re taught to listen to and respect figures of authority even in uncomfortable situations. Therefore many of us feel uncomfortable at the idea of terminating an appointment in the middle of the appointment itself. But if you are uncomfortable, in pain, or if you feel that the boundaries you set were violated, you should feel empowered to terminate the appointment. Virgie offered language for two different ways to terminate the appointment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n