Reproductive Health
How would your communication and interview techniques for building a health history differ with each patient?
How might you target your questions for building a health history based on the patient’s social determinants of health?
What risk assessment instruments would be appropriate to use with each patient, or what questions would you ask each patient to assess his or her health risks?
Identify any potential health-related risks based upon the patient’s age, gender, ethnicity, or environmental setting that should be taken into consideration.
Select one of the risk assessment instruments presented in Chapter 1 or Chapter 5 of the Seidel’s Guide to Physical Examination text, or another tool with which you are familiar, related to your selected patient.
Develop at least five targeted questions you would ask your selected patient to assess her health risks and begin building a health history.
Sample Solution
When communicating with and interviewing patients to build a health history, it is important to keep in mind that not all individuals are the same. Thus, when building a health history for reproductive care, one should tailor their communication and interview techniques for each patient so as to ensure an individualized approach is taken (Oparah et al., 2020). Generally speaking, this process should involve open-ended questions that allow for both explicit and implicit answers – such as “what kind of contraception do you use?” or “which physical activities do you enjoy?” – while also being mindful of language used and allowing space for pauses or follow up questions if needed.
In addition, targeting your questions based on a patient’s social determinants of health can be highly beneficial too since these provide insight into various contextual factors that may impact their overall reproductive health outcomes. For example, asking about family support systems in place or financial resources available could give one indication around levels of stress experienced within the home which has been linked to increased risk behaviors associated with unplanned pregnancies (Shaikh & Walsh 2020). Alternatively, inquiries relating to education level attained or occupation held might reveal employment related demands felt by expectant mothers which can influence choices made during pregnancy (McGraw & Francoeur 2018).
In conclusion then, given how varied individuals typically are even amongst similar demographic groups it is important for healthcare providers delivering reproductive services understand how to best cater their conversations towards specific patient needs. By taking socio-economic factors into account alongside traditional medical ones when collecting information from patients – via targeted questioning – healthcare professionals will be better equipped towards helping those receiving care reach desired goals related to both preventing unplanned pregnancies as well as managing current ones adequately.