Making your own health choices
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Making your own health choices
What This is About
About Trusted Adults
To be a trusted adult a person needs to be:
3. Someone who can help you
About Making Health Choices
Sometimes going to the doctor and making choices about our bodies can feel difficult. We may need to ask questions, learn a bit more, talk about our feelings or ask for help from the trusted adults in our lives. You have the right to take the time you need to do these things so that you can feel safe.
It is important to know that sometimes our trusted adults may need to
make choices or tell you what to do such as having a bath, brushing your teeth or going to bed. These things are important to keep you safe, happy and healthy.
It is easy to understand why this might be tricky when you see a doctor, because doctors are there to keep us healthy, but they sometimes only speak to the adults in the room and they may use big words that you don’t understand. This doesn’t mean that you always have to say yes to everything a doctor says, especially if you don’t understand or feel included in the conversation. It is especially important to listen to your body if this makes you feel scared, unsafe, upset or very uncomfortable.
Some of these choices may be scary and uncomfortable, like getting a blood test or a vaccine with a needle, or it could be that the doctor wants to check part of your body. Body checks are called examinations, and sometimes these can feel scary and uncomfortable too, especially if it is an examination of a private body part. A doctor can explain to you why this is important for your health and why they want you to do this. Sometimes doing something unpleasant is the only way to get information that the doctors need
about our bodies to protect and help our bodies from sickness or injury. Understanding why it needs to happen and having your feelings heard may help you relax enough to trust the doctor
About You
Everyone has human rights, and these are protected by laws that explain all the ways you can’t treat someone badly. These rights are there to protect everyone. Everyone deserves to feel safe and happy, and rights are the rules that exist to protect the things that make us safe and happy. It is important that everyone has the same, fair rights. When you go to the doctor you have the right to choose what happens to your body, such as saying yes or no to whether you want to have a test, take medicine or if you want to leave the appointment early. This is called bodily autonomy. This is a formal way to say that you are in control of your body and the choices about your body are yours to make.
After an Appointment
Looking After Yourself:
If you have been brave and done something you found difficult when at the doctors, it is a good idea to do things that make you feel safe and happy afterwards. Sometimes after being brave you may still feel scared, upset or bad about what has happened. This can also feel like a tummy ache, a headache or even leave you struggling to sleep or eat afterwards. If this happens it means that you might need some
more help, care and support from your trusted adults and loved ones. You may want to do a favourite activity like playing a game or watching a movie, visiting a favourite place, getting a treat like a
special snack or toy, or you may want to spend time with a friend, family member or pet that makes you happy.
Planning for the Future:
For some people talking through what happened and why it made you uncomfortable can help. For others, making a plan for next time can help.
You might think about what choices you, your trusted adult or doctor
would make differently. This can help build and grow your bodily
autonomy skills and help you to understand your rights better.
You might want to write a list of questions to ask your doctor or trusted adult.
Making Your Own Health Choices
1. You have a trusted adult with you
2. You have all the information you need
Although you know your own body best, you might need
to find information from different places to help you
make decisions about your health. You could look for information
that tells you why the decision you have to make is important, what
choices you can make, and what may, or may not happen in the future because of those choices. You don’t need to find information alone!
Some places you may get information from might include:
From the Doctor:
Making your own health choices means you have been able to ask the doctor questions about your body and your health. The doctor should be able to tell you why they think a procedure or examination is important, how they will need to touch your body and what other things they need to do.
Making Your Own Health Choices
For example, a doctor may want to do a body check to see how you are growing and developing. If what the doctor is saying or doing is making you feel uncomfortable, you should be able to ask the doctor if there are any other options. You could ask if the doctor can let you know if there is anything else they can do to get the same information. Maybe instead of doing a body check they can ask you questions, get you to draw or write what you know about your body down on paper or have you take a look so you can tell them about your body changes.
From Professionals:
You can also get information from other people you see besides your doctor such as a psychologist, counsellor, therapist or support worker. These are people who work in a professional way to support you and your family. Giving you information and advice is part of their job. They might not have all the answers straight away but can help by looking up some information for you, answering some of your questions and talking to you about your thoughts and feelings. They can also help you to read through and understand any of the information you have found or been given from other people and places. Talking about our thoughts and feelings is a big part of getting information and making decisions. It can be scary to speak to adults who don’t always understand, or don’t take you seriously, so discussing this with trusted adults before or afterwards can be very useful.
From Exploring:
From Others:
3. Time and Space
BRAIN
BRAIN stands for:
Benefits:
How would the medical treatment, examination or test help you?
Risks:
Are there any risks if you do the medical treatment, examination or test?
Alternatives:
What other options are there?
Intuition:
What do your feelings tell you about the situation?
Nothing:
What happens if you choose to do nothing?
About Information
When making big decisions most people look for information and advice about the choice they need to make or the situation they are in. They may choose to ask a professional who knows a lot about the topic or ask someone who has had to make a similar choice before.
Sometimes people also like to ask someone they trust what choice they would make if they needed to make one. It is important to always ask what the good things about each option are, and if there are any bad or unwanted parts involved, including how this may affect your future choices and health. You can also ask if there are ways any negative parts can be managed or reduced so you still get the benefits from the best available option.
Responsibility
Making your own health choices
- +61 7 3017 1724
- info@ilink.net.au
- PO Box 1372 Eagle Farm QLD 4009
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