The Empowered Patient

Take control of your physical and mental health while navigating a broken health care system with this whole-person guide from an experienced physician. As a primary care physician with her own healthcare struggles, Dr. Lucy McBride intimately understands why people are frustrated with their care. On the one hand, doctors’ appointments average twelve minutes and focus on testing, diagnosis, and medication without a full patient picture. On the other, the wellness culture is full of expensive false promises. The most effective approaches to health integrate both evidence-based treatments of conventional medicine alongside lifestyle choices, which Dr. McBride distills into a four-quadrant system of health: - Informatics: Understanding health and medical data and how to interpret it. - Input: Clear information on everything you ingest, whether food, caffeine, over the counter and prescription medication, supplements, alcohol, etc. - Infrastructure: Understanding your body’s physical structure and mechanics. - Insight: Caring for your emotional and mental health to combat anxiety, depression, trauma, etc. Reading The Empowered Patient is like having your own concierge doctor in the palm of your hands. Dr. McBride helps readers understand the connection between these quadrants of your overall health ecosystem, emphasizing the value of human relationships within a broken system. With patient stories, user friendly checklists, and action guides for reflection and self-advocacy, Dr. McBride helps you reframe what it means to be healthy, accept the things you cannot control, and direct your energy into working on the things you can control. Whether you’re managing a chronic condition, navigating a new diagnosis, or simply trying to feel better amid life’s complexities, this book is your guide to reclaiming agency over your health.