To support you, health care professionals will want to provide you with first information on the disability or illness. You will often also receive information about what kind of support you and your family can receive in your situation. In first information, professionals aim to focus on the most important things that you may need or want to know.
- Medical information includes information about the impact or prognosis of the disability or illness. If you don't fully understand what someone has said, let them know and ask for a clarification. Already the Act on the Status and Rights of Patients requires health care professionals to provide information in a way that you as the patient can understand it.
- You will also receive information about rehabilitation for your illness or disability as well as about support for promoting your wellbeing.
- Information about forms of support is also important to help you and your family with everyday arrangements.
- You will also get tips on organisations and associations that offer a wide range of peer support, advice, training, and events.
A sudden illness or disability can be an extremely difficult situation to understand and accept. The first information given to you by professionals can also feel completely unfamiliar and hard to take in, especially all at once.
Let the professionals who provided you with the first information know if you feel like you need support and someone to talk to.
It is natural for you to eventually want to look for more information on your own. It may be one way to help yourself feel better about the new, unexpected situation.