Be a Health Hero for Yourself: Own Your Health

King County is teaming with the nonprofit Puget Sound Health Alliance to present Own Your Health, a campaign to empower consumers to become active participants in their own health and health care.

There are so many everyday things where we know a little bit of help makes things better. That can mean reaching out to a friend for support, counting on a spotter when you’re climbing, or getting help grabbing that last pair of size 9 comfy slippers from a high shelf at the discount store.

Help is there when we need it for those everyday things. And when it comes to our health, it seems at first that help would also be there whenever we need it. There are plenty of doctors around, right? There’s no shortage of medicine, no shortage of health information, no shortage of health care in general.

But what you need isn’t just the knowledge that health care is out there. You need health care specific to you, from someone who knows you and your health history. A hero knows when to ask for help. A hero can be part of a team.

You can be your own health hero by building a strong, working relationship with a primary care doctor you trust.

A primary care doctor is your partner in health, providing you with preventive care and medical treatments. Your primary care doctor can also help you make sense of all the health information you’ve read or heard about. People who have an ongoing relationship with a primary care doctor have better overall health and lower health-related expenses than those without a primary care doctor. You can go to your primary care doctor for regular checkups and for any health concerns or questions you have.

So how does that make you a health hero exactly?

Well, imagine comic book superheroes were real. No matter how powerful a superhero was, they could never help you as much as you can help yourself. Sure they can fight off bank robbers or stop an asteroid from colliding with the moon (small stuff like that) but can a superhero know when you have a health condition that you’ve been ignoring? Can a superhero find a primary care doctor for you and make an appointment? Can a superhero tell your primary care doctor what you think and need?

Only you can do those things. And that makes you your own health hero. No fancy costume needed.

Visit the Own Your Health website for more, including the handy guide “How to Find the Right Primary Care Doctor for You.”