This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter! If you like what you are reading, please consider subscribing and/or sharing! I received this question from an anonymous reader who is an RN, and it’s a question I’ve received in various shapes and forms from a number of providers:
I get my healthcare from a clinic that helps people from all walks of life, which among many things includes a food pantry and people who can help patients get on various programs to help pay for both healthcare and medicine. One thing they stress to both staff and patients alike is that you have no way of knowing what someone is able to do, or can afford to do, in their life.
One of the first HCPs I saw there was an NP who was clueless and rude. First she prescribed medications based on what Medicaid covered. I kept telling her I was on Medicare, not Medicaid, and she told me I was wrong, that I was too young to be on Medicare. [You get Medicare one year after you qualify for SSDI.] Then she made comments about how I needed to change my diet - without asking what I was eating - and how she was sending me to the RD to help me do that. [Turns out the RD is excellent, is the clinic's Diabetes Educator, and does not advocate dieting for weight changes.] Of course I reported her, and the next time I went to the clinic I had been assigned a new HCP. They implied the NP had been fired, and commented that the clinic had just "lost" a few people due to them making rude comments about patients both to the patients and behind their backs.
(Mind you, I've had excellent healthcare from NPs in general and prefer them. That one was definitely a fluke.)
Such a powerful article, Ragen! I shared it to my FB page with the heading: More ways to be kind and not a pecker head regarding heavy people professionally and personally.
Great one I heard at an anti-racist training: when somebody says something prejudiced, reply 'Excuse me?' or 'What was that?' with a calm, focused look (maybe with an eyebrow quirk). If they read you well, they'll understand you're not supportive of what they said and they'll apologize/etc.. If they repeat themselves or try to explain, either they'll realize they messed up as they eat their words (hearing it back) or if they don't, you get the time to consider a response with a more fully formed clapback.
I get my healthcare from a clinic that helps people from all walks of life, which among many things includes a food pantry and people who can help patients get on various programs to help pay for both healthcare and medicine. One thing they stress to both staff and patients alike is that you have no way of knowing what someone is able to do, or can afford to do, in their life.
One of the first HCPs I saw there was an NP who was clueless and rude. First she prescribed medications based on what Medicaid covered. I kept telling her I was on Medicare, not Medicaid, and she told me I was wrong, that I was too young to be on Medicare. [You get Medicare one year after you qualify for SSDI.] Then she made comments about how I needed to change my diet - without asking what I was eating - and how she was sending me to the RD to help me do that. [Turns out the RD is excellent, is the clinic's Diabetes Educator, and does not advocate dieting for weight changes.] Of course I reported her, and the next time I went to the clinic I had been assigned a new HCP. They implied the NP had been fired, and commented that the clinic had just "lost" a few people due to them making rude comments about patients both to the patients and behind their backs.
(Mind you, I've had excellent healthcare from NPs in general and prefer them. That one was definitely a fluke.)
Such a powerful article, Ragen! I shared it to my FB page with the heading: More ways to be kind and not a pecker head regarding heavy people professionally and personally.
Great one I heard at an anti-racist training: when somebody says something prejudiced, reply 'Excuse me?' or 'What was that?' with a calm, focused look (maybe with an eyebrow quirk). If they read you well, they'll understand you're not supportive of what they said and they'll apologize/etc.. If they repeat themselves or try to explain, either they'll realize they messed up as they eat their words (hearing it back) or if they don't, you get the time to consider a response with a more fully formed clapback.