Resolutions, breaking bad habits, wiping the slate clean and starting over again--these seem to be the things that a lot of people are buzzing about at the beginning of the new year. Even if you’re not into resolutions (that are often scrapped by February), you may want to consider one thing this year.

Resolve to communicate better with members of your healthcare team – the doctors, nurses, oncologists, hematologists, radiologists, social workers, and others who are involved in blood cancer treatment. While they have a lot of expertise, there is sometimes a communication divide that can add to the stress of diagnosis, treatment and healing.

So how can you close the communication gap?

Think about how involved you want to be. Some patients are very involved in their healthcare from the start, while others might prefer not to ask too many questions or talk too much about their diagnosis or treatment. If you tend to be less involved, consider that taking an active role in getting an accurate diagnosis and making treatment decisions could have a positive effect on your health and quality of life. You can enlist the help of family members, friends, other cancer patients, and patient advocates to support you with provider communications. Remember that you and members of your oncology team are working together to beat blood cancer.

Ask questions. But don’t just ask questions – make sure you take notes in case you forget anything that you might want to remember later. Not sure what to ask? Go to www.lls.org/whattoask to download printable question guides you can take with you on your medical appointments. You can also refer back to a recent blog post we wrote called Healthcare questions to ask if you have been diagnosed with a blood cancer. You might want to contact the Information Resource Center to speak to a specialist about ways to communicate with members of your oncology team.

Find out what lines of communication are available to you. Are you the type of person that picks up the phone when you have a question or are you more likely to want to send an email? Ask your medical team if they wouldn’t mind you calling or emailing them with additional questions.

Do you have any other ideas on how to improve communication between medical staff and patients? What is your preferred way to communicate with your doctor? If you are a healthcare provider, do you have helpful patient-provider communication ideas to share?