Daily Health Choices--How Do You Decide?

Monday night, I watched the premiere of Showtime's new series The Big C. It's about a woman who finds out she has melanoma and the changes she makes to her life when faced with a terminal illness. I must admit that I tuned into the show originally because I heard the non-stop advertisements and thought the plot was interesting; however, I came away from the show marveling at how many relevant health topics were introduced and how the main character makes her own health decisions. Consider the following issues and choices that were portrayed during the first episode of The Big C:

• Melanoma--although melanoma ranks in the top 10 most common cancers in the U.S., it is rarely discussed on television or in everyday life. How many of us have spent time in the sun this summer without sunscreen? How many of us have used a tanning bed to look good for a special event?



• Patient Advocacy--the main character has no one to accompany her to appointments, assist in communication with her doctor or to provide a sounding board for decisions or concerns. She relies completely on her doctor for advice and information and chooses not to undergo treatment. Would her decision be the same with an advocate?



• Teenage Smoking/Weight Loss--the decisions surrounding a teen's use of cigarettes to lose weight are discussed. The complicated issues of self-control, social acceptance, and fad diets are brought to light when the main character offers to pay the teen to lose weight (if she quits smoking).



• Mental Health -- loneliness, the stress of single parenting, anger management, self-efficacy, and acceptance are all touched on in this episode.

Wow--and that was just in 30 minutes! The truth is we all make many decisions that affect our health every day. For example, just this morning you probably decided what to eat for breakfast, to floss your teeth or not, whether to walk, bike, or drive to work, whether to take the stairs or the elevator, etc. Many of our daily health decisions are made without conscious effort, by default, by other people, without appropriate information, under stress, or without emotional support. How are you making your health decisions? Who do you rely on for information? We would love to hear your comments.