When you’re living with obesity, it’s important to take steps to care for your overall health. You should expect to have doctors who recognize obesity as a disease. Your doctors also should be free of weight bias, which may too often get in the way of the health care you deserve. You can overcome the stigma that comes with obesity and empower yourself by acting as your own health advocate. A good first step is to realize that when it comes to your body and your health – nobody has more expertise than you.
“Ultimately, patients are the experts in their own bodies, their own stories, and their own health,” says Liz Paul, a member of the Obesity Action Committee’s National Board of Directors based in Mankato, Minnesota, who has lived with obesity her whole life. “If you think something is wrong, if you think something has changed, if you are ready to address something about your health, then you deserve to be taken seriously.”
What Is Self-Advocacy?
Self-advocacy means that you’re acting as your own health representative. You're there to serve your own interests. You will serve those interests by making your voice heard and your concerns known. Advocacy is a way to empower yourself to improve your own health in the ways you choose. It also can be a tool to drive positive change in medicine more broadly.
Self-advocacy works best when you know your rights in medical spaces. You have a right to be treated with dignity and respect and according to your needs. You should expect guidance from your doctors, but also the opportunity to talk through the benefits and risks of any test or treatment they may recommend. You should feel free to ask questions and get answers that allow you to make your own decisions about medical interventions you want or don’t want. You also have a right to get a second opinion. When you know your rights, it gets easier to speak up for yourself.
“For me, advocating for myself is making sure that I come away with the knowledge and plans that I intended when making an appointment in seeing a doctor,” Paul says. “If I am seeking answers for a health question, I might not get answers immediately, but I hope I leave feeling heard with a plan for how we will track answers down together. If I have concerns, I want to be able to be validated and leave with possible solutions for those concerns.”
Go Prepared
In addition to knowing what your rights are, it helps to go to each doctor’s visit well prepared. In most cases, your time with the doctor will be short. You’re the one who knows your body, the reason for your visit, and what you hope to get out of it. Think through and write down your goals ahead of time. Bring along any relevant information you have, including medications you’re taking.
“Look up your symptoms ahead of time,” Paul says. “Read your [medical] chart. Know your test results. Don't be afraid of numbers; they are just numbers. Your value is not based on these things, but you can help advocate for yourself by being informed.”
Catherine Ferguson, vice president of federal advocacy at the American Diabetes Association based in San Juan Capistrano, California, who is a leader for the organization’s obesity advocacy work, recommends making a list of questions or concerns you want to bring up with your doctor during each appointment. Be sure to organize your list in order of priority, and don’t forget to bring it with you.
If you could use some help thinking through your questions, Ferguson recommends visiting The Obesity Association, a division of the American Diabetes Association, at obesityassociation.org, where you can find information and resources on standards of obesity care, advocacy, and obesity education.
Remember: “You are important, and your health is important,” Ferguson says. “There are programs and treatments that can help you achieve better health.”
Choose Your Care Team Wisely
NYC fitness instructor, dance instructor, and co-founder of Power Plus Wellness Jessie Diaz-Herrera urges you to remember that larger bodies can be healthy bodies, too. “Healthy” may mean something different for you than it does for someone else, and that’s OK.
“I push people to always think about what healthy means for you, and how then do you manifest that in your life?” Diaz-Herrera says. “How do you make that happen in your life? How do you find the right people on your team?”
Diaz-Herrera advises interviewing your doctors. You want to know that your doctor understands your goals and is aligned with your wishes and values. Many doctors follow Health at Every Size principles espoused by the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) that focus on “health and not just towards shrinking ourselves,” she says.
Paul recommends The Obesity Action Coalition’s online database of doctors who work with patients living with obesity as a great place to start if you don’t have a doctor already.
Speak Your Mind
Any time a doctor dismisses your concerns, shames you, ignores the science of obesity as a disease, or exhibits bias, make note. These are all reasons to speak up and to consider whether it’s time to find a new doctor. Don't be afraid to ask, "If a patient of normal weight was exhibiting these same symptoms, what tests would you run?" People in larger bodies deserve to be heard and trusted to know when something isn't right.
“Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect at the doctor, no matter their body size, no matter their shape, no matter their health, no matter what,” Paul says. “If you don't receive that kind of treatment, it is health care that has failed you, not the other way around. Every time a person living with obesity goes to the doctor, they are willing to face bias and stigma because they care about their health. Keep fighting for the health care that you deserve, because you do deserve it.”
