What does “Circle of Care” even mean?
The definition floating around that’s used in Healthcare is:
The group of healthcare professionals providing care to a patient. This is the group that needs to know the patient’s personal health information to provide that care.
This is when your family Doctor shares your health records with other healthcare professionals to provide your care.
But I have a different take on what “Circle of Care” means.
Your eczema circle of care is the people you work with to help manage your skin. This is a group of people you consult and work with to help your heal.
But first, let’s talk about your mindset.
Living with a chronic illness, you are constantly visiting different types of healthcare practitioners throughout your journey.
At a certain point, it gets tiring and demoralizing.
No one knows how to help you.
When this happens, you get into a narrow mindset. These are the thoughts that pop up:
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No one can help me
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Only I can help myself
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I need to find the one Doctor, Specialist, etc who can cure me
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If I could only find this one medication, cream, supplement, diet, treatment, or remedy to cure me
Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way.
I can’t do it all on my own.
There is not one person who can cure you or heal you.
There is no one cure, remedy, medication, pill, supplement, or diet that will magically heal you.
However, what I did learn was that it was a combination of these things that helped me progress on my healing journey.
Mistakes = a missed take, so try again.
The many mistakes I did on my healing journey were that I felt like I didn’t work with any Healthcare practitioner long enough.
I was in so much pain that if their treatment wasn’t working as I’d hoped, I’d look for someone else real quick.
I would maybe work with them for a max of three months.
My mind would then tell me that they don’t know what they were doing.
The next thing you know, I’m on Google searching for the next best thing.
But healing takes time.
Most times, you need to try a few different approaches before you start seeing progress.
I didn’t give those practitioners enough time to try different strategies on me to help me heal.
But in fairness, I just wanted to feel better. I’ve been in pain for too long to wait around and experiment.
But if you keep changing healthcare practitioners and dropping them like a hot potato, you aren’t giving yourself or those practitioners a chance to create a long-term plan for you.
When you are dealing with a chronic illness, you need to view the healthcare professionals you work with, as your teammates.
But this is where the fun begins.
It’s time to start recruiting healthcare practitioners to your eczema circle of care.
So, who is on your Team?
Without realizing it, you already have a team.
When you started out on your healing journey, the first teammates you’ve ever had are:
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You and yourself
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Family and Friends
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Family Doctor
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Family Dentist
Yourself, family, and friends are the people you connect with and rely on when discussing your health.
They provide you with care and emotional support during good and challenging times.
Your family Doctor and Dentist are you go to when you need medical attention.
But when you have a chronic illness, you most likely have more people on your team.
You might be working with a:
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Therapist
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Health Coach
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Acupuncturist
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Physiotherapist
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Ayurveda Practitioner
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Registered Dietician (RD)
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Naturopathic Doctor (ND)
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Registered Massage Therapist (RMT)
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Certified Nutritional Practitioner (CNP)
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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioner
It’s time to start recruiting
Maybe these professionals are already in your eczema circle of care.
Or this is the first time you are hearing about them.
Or this is the first time you’ve even thought about it like this.
When dealing with a chronic illness, most times, we need to see health practitioners at least once a month.
Because healing takes time. Changes take time.
Once your health has stabilized, you still need to maintain your health.
Maintaining your health will help you feel better in the long run.
Taking care of yourself with the help of experts will help you heal in the long run.
You should get a massage at least once a month.
Talk to your therapist once a month. Even if you feel like there is nothing to talk about.
Check-in with your Health Coach.
Meet with your Certified Nutritional Practitioner to see if you can adjust your diet. Maybe it’s time to tweak what you eat.
So before you cycle through different healthcare practitioners, give yourself and them at least 6 months to a year of consistency.
If you still don’t see results, it’s time to change up who is in your eczema circle of care.
It’s Time to Hire a Health Coach into your Eczema Circle of Care
Most times it helps to work with a Health Coach or a Certified Nutritional Practitioner like me.
I’ve been living with eczema for the last 20 years and went through topical steroid withdrawal.
I understand what you are going through on a physical, mental, and emotional level.
I’ve walked your painful journey and healed myself. I want to help you too.
Sometimes, all you need is a little bit of guidance, coaching, and support.
If this resonates with you on some level, book a complimentary 30 min call with me on how I can help you!
Still not convinced you need a Skin Health Coach?
Check out this XZMA Healing Program I created, just for people like us!