Dr. Folasade May, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Quality in Gastroenterology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, as well as a nationally recognized gastroenterologist at UCLA Health and the Veterans Affairs, shares her expertise on what meaningful patient empowerment looks like in clinical practice.
Dr. May explains how providers can equip patients, especially those from marginalized communities, with the knowledge, access, and confidence to participate actively in their care, ask informed questions, and advocate for the treatment they deserve. She highlights the shared responsibility between patients and clinicians and emphasizes open dialogue, dismantling outdated hierarchies, and creating space for patients to arrive informed.
Transcript
Dr. Folasade May:
Patient empowerment is a topic that I have found a lot of joy in talking about recently, and I actually find a lot of joy in my patients Once they understand how to empower themselves. So, empowering patients, especially when we talk about people who are members of community of colors, means giving them knowledge, access to care, and also confidence to take charge in their health. It also empowers them to ask questions about their own health,and really demand the care that they need.
So, you know, the first step there is us, as providers, making sure that patients are equipped with the knowledge and access that they need. That means that we are responsible for educating them, i t also means that we are responsible for making sure that we can do everything that we can in the means and the health systems that we work in, that to make sure that all patients, regardless of background, have the same access to screening, to treatment and beyond. So, that is part of it.
Part of the empowerment is on us as providers. But the part that we also need to focus on is giving patients license to be empowered themselves in taking charge of their own health. So, patients should be confident in asking us questions. We’re beyond the days where patients came into our office and sat there, and listened to us, you know, wax poetic about their health and what they should be doing. We shouldn’t be offended when they ask questions. We shouldn’t be offended when they challenge the recommendations that we make or when they bring in data. and ask us to support what we’re recommending. So, I think that part of it is empowering the patients themselves, but it’s also us understanding that patients are going to come in a little bit differently. They’re going to come in a little bit informed, and that we have to be receptive of the information that they’re delivering us. And I think in doing that, patients are happier, and I think that they do achieve the health outcomes that they want through the means that they want to get there.