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Katia Gedeon

Disease Screening

Screening is performed to identify any potential diseases or health disorders in individuals who might not show any disease symptoms. The aim of screening is always to detect the disease early enough for early treatment. Furthermore, screening can also be done for surveillance or lifestyle changes. Additionally, disease screening allows a healthcare provider to understand the patient’s condition better to offer the best services or referrals.

I had an opportunity of screening a few patients for HIV. Some of the screening was done as routine health care that is in line with CDC recommendations concerning testing people between 13 and 64 (Owens et al., 2019). However, other screening was done on individuals with risk factors.

First, I had to prepare a conducive environment for just me and the patient so that they did not have to be afraid that they would be open enough to talk about their lifestyle. Most of the questions revolved around their sexual behaviors, and I was aware that some patients would not be comfortable responding to some of the questions. After preparing a room for just the two of us and closing the door, I sat with the patient facing each other. Since I realized in most cases that there was always some level of tension in the room at the beginning, I always started by introducing myself and trying to cool down the pressure. I also threw in some light moments within the conversation to create rapport between us.

Next, I informed the patient concerning the purpose of the session and let them know that I would be asking them some questions that might sound rather personal. I encouraged them to be open enough and only respond to whatever they felt comfortable with. However, before I started screening, I always asked them if they had any questions they would wish to ask me concerning their sex life. I realized that this trick was always setting us off in a good mood us. The patients who opted to ask me a question at the begging of the session seemed to be more open than those who said they did not have any questions at that moment.

Once I started asking questions one by one, I was always keen on the clients’ responses, including their body language. I always tried to maintain eye contact and be as easy as possible. Some of the patients were not comfortable with specific questions, such as the number of sexual partners in the last few days.

Furthermore, there were a few clients who were apprehensive about being screened for HIV. However, I always talked to them about the importance of getting screened for the disease. First, I told them that screening for HIV would help them change their lifestyle and eliminate anxiety. If a person turned HIV-positive, they would have the opportunity to start early treatment, which would be more beneficial than begging for treatment late (US Preventive Services Task Force, 2019). Besides, should the person turn to be HIV negative, then that would be an opportunity for them to re-examine their lifestyles and ensure they try to prevent getting infected. I also reassured them of their confidentiality.

References

Owens, D. K., Davidson, K. W., Krist, A. H., Barry, M. J., Cabana, M., Caughey, A. B., … & US Preventive Services Task Force. (2019). Screening for HIV infection: US preventive services task force recommendation statement. Jama, 321(23), 2326-2336. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2735345 (Links to an external site.)

US Preventive Services Task Force. (2019). Pre-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of HIV infection: US preventive services task force recommendation statement. JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, 321(22), 2203-2213. https://www.cabdirect.org/globalhealth/abstract/20209905170 (Links to an external site.)