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Listening Is the First Step Toward Changing Minds I
n February, the SSVMS Board of Directors honored the public health officers in the three counties SSVMS represents and also in Placer County, where many of our members live and work. Dr. Olivia Kasirye (Sacramento), Dr. Nancy Williams (El Dorado), Dr. Aimee Sisson (Yolo) and Dr. Rob Oldham (Placer) have worked tirelessly to limit the spread of COVID-19 and do what is best for their counties, often in the face of tremendous pressure and resistance. My son recently asked me what exactly a public health officer does, so like any good mom, I Googled the question. The best answer I found for him was that they focus on the overall health of communities instead of treating individual patients, educate the public on health risks and encourage people to live healthier lifestyles. In our last issue, Drs. Kasirye, Williams and Sisson said that what they need most from physicians was for us to support their efforts to combat COVID-19. They need us to reinforce their messages with our patients and to stand up and speak as experts whenever we can. We all know that there have been active disinformation programs around COVID-19 over the past year. In January, there were anti-vaccine protesters blocking Dodgers Stadium to prevent people from getting the vaccines that have been developed to save lives and return to the level of openness that, ironically, many of the protestors are calling for. This seems unfathomable, yet we have all seen that there is a spectrum of resistance to vaccines ranging from hesitancy to outright disbelief in the science. This has really caused me consternation and made me wonder how we can combat misinformation and conspiracy theories that, frankly, many of us have trouble believing anyone can take seriously. Books such as Escaping the Rabbit Hole by Mark West and others with advice for confronting this frustrating phenomenon suggest that the first step is listening with respect to whomever you are trying to convince that their narra4
Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine
By Carol Kimball, MD carol.md.mba@gmail.com
tive is false. Simply giving the facts without engagement doesn’t usually work and will often leave a conspiracy theorist even more entrenched. Another technique is to dial back the conversation, peeling away the layers until you can start over at a point of agreement. Even though respectful dialogue doesn’t always bring change to those wary or opposed to the vaccine, listening to and understanding exactly what they believe is important. Someone may not want a vaccine because they believe it could cause an allergic reaction or they are worried that it hasn’t been tested enough. There are also cultural reasons that cause skepticism and wariness.
Even though respectful dialogue doesn’t always bring change, listening to and understanding exactly what they believe is important. There are people who will never change their mind, but it is incumbent on us as physicians to be honest, answer their questions thoughtfully and tell the story of how they can help themselves, their families, their community and the nation as a whole by doing their part to extinguish COVID-19. Humans are made for storytelling, and it is part of the art of medicine—we need to hear a patient’s story and pick out the part that leads to healing. It is also our duty to offer them a story that produces an emotional response and moves them to appropriate self-care. It is also important to get the story out to them before they gather a lot of other information—especially misinformation—because it is always easier to help someone make up their mind than it is to get them to change it. We must remember that some staff members, whom patients may look to as role models, are themselves wary of the vaccine. What do you say when your medical assistant says that she is afraid that she could die if she gets the vaccine, and she is the sole parent for her children? A thoughtful and calm discussion, and