Judy: Speaking with health professionals – Benefits of good communication
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
Judy
Female
Age at interview: 72
Number of medicines: 9
Cultural background: Anglo-Australian
Judy was reassured by her GP that she was unlikely to develop stomach cancer due to her medicines, which was what her mother-in-law had been told by her doctor.
Judy:
A concern and I have talked it over with my doctor, is that ... and it's anecdotal, I guess … my mother [in-law] died from a stomach cancer and one of the doctors when they diagnosed her with that said, ‘Oh, it's probably from the medication you've been taking.’ That sort of rings alarm bells when you think, ‘I feel healthy. I've got, not concerns, but what if something's happening and you don't know, until it's too late?’ That would be my only concern and I don't dwell on it. I don't think about.
Jacqueline:
Is that something you've talked about with anyone, your doctor or …?
Judy:
I did. After we realised or found out what had happened to my mother-in-law, I did and my doctor … I thought she was very good. She went through each of the medications, one by one, and explained to me what I'm on them for and what the side effects could be and the possibility that they might be a problem and it didn't appear, from what she was saying, that anything I was on would cause those sorts of problems, so that was reassuring.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.