Practitioners, if you know Selene River Press, you know we have an expansive catalog of patient education materials to boast of. That’s because we’ve been at it since 1986, and from the start our goal was to help translate practitioner knowledge into a language patients can understand.
With so many titles to choose from, focusing on a single example is a difficult task. But one product has been on our mind lately: Why Your Doctor Offers Nutritional Supplements by SRP editor-in-chief Stephanie Selene Anderson, with Mark Anderson, now in its fourth edition.
This slim but information-packed book was originally published as a direct response to the state of nutrition training in the healing arts at the time. And by that we mean the complete lack of such training. Zilch.
Though today we are more aware about the need for real food, training the very people who should be promoting it (just about everyone in the medical field) is very limited. That means Why Your Doctor is still a resource your patients need. It is a page-by-page guide for learning how to think about nutrition and dietary support—and why you keep bringing it up when they come in. And if your patients don’t understand that, you may never see them again.
Is this book for longstanding patients who already enjoy generally good health habits? Sure it is. After all, there’s always more to learn and more friends and family to gift it to. But what about those other patients? New patients. Difficult patients. Suspicious patients. Like that one guy who was referred by his brother-in-law and thinks your whole deal is a racket. He doesn’t really believe you can help. But deep down, he hopes.
You know, that guy. He’s lost trust in the health care world. He doesn’t want to think about his lifestyle, let alone change it. He’s afraid of what he doesn’t know but more afraid to learn it. And he’s out the door if he feels judged on or harped at.
But hey, he showed up. To your office. And after a few minutes, you learn why. Too many Diet Cokes. Too many runs to Taco Bell. Too many hours sitting on his ass. He’s tired all the time. Can’t lift his shoulder above his head. Everything creaks. On and on it goes. At least he takes vitamins daily. Whatever his wife finds on sale at Target, but still.
Why Your Doctor is for that guy. It is a non-judgmental, nonthreatening little book he can take home, pick up, put down, side-eye, flip through, and, finally, read. There is so much you need him to know, and now he’s on his way to knowing it. He has a new appreciation for the word “whole,” especially when it comes before “foods” and “food supplements.” He’s got some idea of what synthetic and refined foods are doing to his body—and why his Target supplements aren’t helping.
Like all of the products (and people) at SRP, Why Your Doctor Offers Nutritional Supplements is inspired and informed by the teachings of Dr. Royal Lee. As a custodian and ambassador of his work, and the work of his fellow nutrition pioneers, Selene River Press is continuously finding new ways to shape, contextualize, publish, and promote it, to the benefit of all of us.
Understanding the causes of health—and sharing this knowledge with the people who need it most—is a process of discovery. Not a chore but a privilege. We encourage you to explore the wide range of resources available at SRP. Here are two more great examples:
The New Patient Success Kit. This bundle of three resources—two slim books and a magazine—is a standout, even for SRP. It will help you help your new patients understand basic health concepts: What are refined foods? What are whole foods, and how do I shop for them? What is the best way to transition to a healthier lifestyle? And that’s just scratching the surface.
It’s Never Too Late to Sleep Like a Baby. This durable and eye-catching laminated chart is another absolute winner from SRP. It not only identifies a range of common sleep problems but also pinpoints the causes behind them—and the solutions to fix them. Help turn your sleep-deprived patients from mindless zombies to the upstanding members of society you know they are.
There’s more. So much more. Audiobooks, cookbooks, e-learning courses, author interviews, blogs. Are we flexing? Probably. Visit SRP.com and see for yourself.
When patients leave your office, they can apply the sound holistic principles you talked about or lose sight of them a few hours later. That choice is theirs. But when you do what you do best, and build on the tools SRP has to offer, you can help them make the right one. Then you can both take the win.
Images from SRP.
