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Many providers say they don't raise sexual issues because they are uncomfortable with the subject, fear offending the patient, have no treatments to offer, or feel constrained by time. At the same time, 68% of patients cited fear of embarrassing a provider as a reason for not raising sexual issues.1 Clearly, discussing sex is difficult for both providers and patients.
The following steps may help facilitate conversation with your patient. After all, communicating openly with patients and families is an effective cornerstone of providing quality healthcare.2
Some providers may feel that their patients' sexual lives are too personal to ask about. Meanwhile, patients may assume their providers will tell them what they need to know. It's important healthcare providers ask themselves the tougher questions first.1
ASK YOURSELF
Patients may have difficulty talking to healthcare providers about sexual health for many reasons, even when they clearly are sexually active. Most people are not encouraged to discuss sexual matters openly.3
Try to put patients at ease, and let them know that taking a sexual history is an important part of a regular medical exam or physical history.
GIVE THIS A TRY
"Just so you know, I ask these questions to all of my adult and young patients, regardless of age, gender, or marital status. These questions are as important as your physical and mental health. Like the rest of our visits, this information is kept in strict confidence. Do you have any questions before we get started?"
Asking questions can help you understand your patient's at-home habits and determine whether or not she is practicing optimal care. Open-ended questions can provide a potent way of understanding another's position or feelings.2,4
Listen to what is being said (this doesn't mean you must agree with it). Maintain eye contact and make encouraging remarks such as 'I see what you are saying...' or 'Go on...'.2,4
ASK PATIENTS
Evidence shows that when communication is compassionate and empathetic, patients talk more openly about their symptoms and concerns.2
Appropriate follow-up can help you identify misunderstandings, answer questions, make further assessments, or adjust treatments. In addition, follow-up helps to promote a good working relationship between you and your patients.5
Visit Patient & Practice Tools for a downloadable version of the Do's & Don'ts For Patients and the Patient Factsheet. If you'd like to learn about current and future BV treatments, visit Treating Her BV.
Survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Symbiomix Therapeutics, LLC, a Lupin Company and the American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) within the United States between September 14 and 29, 2017 among 304 US women aged 18-49 who have been diagnosed by a healthcare professional with bacterial vaginosis (BV) within the past 2 years ("women with bacterial vaginosis"). Figures for age, income, race/ethnicity, region, education, and size of household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.6
Pledge on Privacy: The term "personal data" as used in this Policy refers to information such as your name, birth date, email address or mailing address that can be used to identify you. Lupin will not process your personal data without your consent. In processing your personal data, we pledge to fully comply with internationally recognized standards of privacy protection. In so doing, we ensure compliance by our staff with strict standards of security and confidentiality. The next sections explain how and when we collect personal data from you.
Intended Use of Personal Data: Most of our services do not require any form of registration, allowing you to visit our site without telling us who you are. However, some services may require registration. When you register with us, you may need to complete certain fields (some are required and some are optional), as well as choose a user name and password. In these situations, if you choose to withhold any personal data requested by us, it may not be possible for you to gain access to certain parts of the site and for us to respond to your query. Lupin processes personal data for specific and limited purposes, which we inform you about when we ask you for information. For example, we may collect and use personal data to provide you with products or services, to bill you for products and services you request, to market products and services that we think may be of interest to you, or to communicate with you for other purposes. Information you send to our customer service department is used only to help resolve your problem and is otherwise kept private. Lupin keeps your data only for as long as is reasonably needed for such purposes and in accordance with any applicable legal or ethical reporting or documentation retention requirements
Non-Disclosure of Information: Lupin will not sell, share, or otherwise distribute your personal data to third parties outside the Lupin group. However, personal data may occasionally be transferred to third parties who act for or on behalf of Lupin, or in connection with the business of Lupin, for further processing in accordance with the purpose(s) for which the data were originally collected. Where disclosure of personal data to a third party is likely or necessary for whatever reason, Lupin will, wherever possible, endeavor to ensure that the disclosure and intended use of the data are clearly indicated. Such third parties may operate different privacy policies. However, we endeavor to ensure that such third parties provide the same level of protection as Lupin and, where appropriate, we will contractually require them to process data transferred only for the purposes expressly authorized by Lupin. We will not share with third parties any data about you that is sensitive (e.g., medical information) in the absence of your prior and explicit consent. Your consent may always be revoked at a later date. If consent is revoked, Lupin may not be able to carry out certain requests made by you. Lupin will, where practicable, inform third parties to whom your data have been transferred of your withdrawal of consent.
Right of Access: You have the right to access and update your personal data or to require their deletion. We endeavor to ensure that personal data are up-to-date, accurate, and complete. If you wish to access or correct your personal data held by us, please contact the Webmaster. Your requests will be dealt with in a prompt and proper manner. No charge will be levied for complying with a correction request, however, for all other requests Lupin may charge a small fee to cover its costs. Requests to delete personal data will be subject to any applicable legal and ethical reporting or document filing or retention obligations imposed on Lupin.
Security and Confidentiality: To ensure the security and confidentiality of personal data that Lupin collects on-line, Lupin uses data networks protected, inter alia, by industry-standard firewall and password protection. Access to personal data is restricted to those employees who have a need to use the data and who have been trained to handle such data properly and observe strict standards of confidentiality. If an employee breaches our policies and procedures, he/she will be disciplined accordingly. Staff compliance with our policies and procedures is regularly audited and reviewed. While we cannot guarantee against any loss, misuse or alteration to data, we try to prevent such unfortunate occurrences.
Data Transfer Abroad: Lupin is a global enterprise and has databases in different jurisdictions. Lupin may transfer your data to one of its databases outside your country of domicile. If the level of privacy protection in a country does not comply with recognized international standards, we will ensure that data transfers to Lupin databases in that country are adequately protected and that the transfer of data to third parties in such countries will not occur unless we obtain your express consent to such transfer in advance.
Anonymous Data and “Cookies”: Most of the information that Lupin collects from its website(s) is anonymous information, such as the pages you visit and searches you perform. When you visit our website, we do not collect any personal data from you unless otherwise authorized by you. Anonymous information is processed by Lupin to help improve the contents of the site and to compile aggregate statistics about individuals using our site for internal, market research purposes. In so doing, Lupin may install "cookies" that collect the first first-level domain name of the user (e.g., "bigmail.com" from an e-mail address of "john@bigmail.com") and the date and time of access. "Cookies" by themselves cannot be used to discover the identity of the user. A "cookie" is a small piece of information, which is sent to your browser and stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies do not damage your computer. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a "cookie;" this will enable you to decide if you want to accept it or not.
Spamming: Lupin does not condone "spamming." Spamming is defined as sending unsolicited e-mails, usually of a commercial nature, in large numbers and repeatedly to individuals with whom the sender has had no previous contact or who have declined to receive such communications. In contrast, where Lupin believes that certain product, health, or other information is of importance to you it reserves the right to inform you by e-mail whilst giving you the choice of opting out of such service.
Personal Information and Children: Lupin will not knowingly collect, use or disclose personal data from a minor under the age of 13, without obtaining prior consent from a person with parental responsibility (e.g., a parent or guardian) through direct off-line contact. We will provide the parent with (i) notice of the specific types of personal data being collected from the minor, and (ii) the opportunity to object to any further collection, use, or storage of such information.
Links to Other Sites: This Privacy Policy applies only to Lupin websites to the exclusion of third party websites. Lupin may provide links to other websites, which we believe, may be of interest to our visitors. We aim to ensure that such websites are of the highest standard. However, due to the nature of the World Wide Web, Lupin cannot guarantee the standards of every website link it provides or be responsible for the contents of non-Lupin sites.
Contact Lupin: If you have any queries or complaints about our compliance with this Privacy Policy, or if you would like to make any recommendations or comments to improve the quality of our Privacy Policy, please contact the Webmaster. This privacy policy is effective as of October 15, 2003. We aim to constantly improve the tools available to you to manage the data that you provide to us. Please refer to this page from time to time to review these and other new features.
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