Description: Tina brings up her pain and frustration at how being unable to bear weight on her foot impacts her life.

 Model Statement: “This sounds like a challenging time for you. I understand your frustration at having your life interrupted by foot pain. We’ll do our best to get your foot healed, and have you back to your usual routine as soon as possible.”

 Description: Tina describes controlling her diabetes by avoiding “sweets.”

 Model Statement: “Staying away from sugar is a great start. I can give you some more information on what a balanced diet looks like for someone with diabetes. For example, many starchy foods break down into glucose in the body, like pasta, and so you can eat those in moderation, too. Most people with diabetes feel better when they limit all starches, eat protein, and take regular medication.”

 Description: Tina reveals that she does not treat her diabetes with medication.

 Model Statement: “I understand that it can be challenging to keep up with daily medication. But it’s important to keep your blood sugar under control to prevent long-term damage to your health, and medication can really help. I’d like to talk with you more about getting back onto a prescription. We could start you at a low dose, which reduces the side effects.”

 Description: Tina describes increased inhaler use and decreased effectiveness, indicating that her asthma is uncontrolled.

 Model Statement: “It sounds like your asthma is giving you some problems, and you’re not getting full relief from your inhaler. I would like to talk with you about changing your medication and your regimen, to reduce your frequent breathing problems, so that you feel better day-to-day. Most patients find that using a daily inhaler is an easy way to reduce your asthma symptoms even more.”

 Description: Tina shares information about her father dying.

 Model Statement: “I’m sorry to hear about your father’s passing. That sounds like a difficult situation.”

 Description: Tina discusses her past history of marijuana smoking.

 Model Statement: “Thank you for sharing that information. It’s good to hear that you no longer smoke pot. It’s better for your asthma and your overall health.”

 Description: Tina reveals that she doesn’t fully understand the importance of testing for STIs.

 Model Statement: “There are many sexually transmitted infections that don’t necessarily present symptoms, for either men or women, and can persist for years if left untreated. The only way to be certain you and your partners are free of STIs is for both of you to get tested. This can be done as a part of a typical gynecological exam. Because your past partner was not tested, I would recommend that you get tested during your next annual pap smear.”

 Description: Tina discusses her blood pressure readings as usually high, and her family’s history of hypertension.

 Model Statement: “It sounds like your blood pressure is typically high. For normal blood pressure, we like to see a top number of below 120 and a bottom number below 80. Because of your family’s history of hypertension, it’s important for us to determine your blood pressure over time. We have your BP reading from today, and then I’d like you to come back and get a reading two more times. That way, we can establish how your blood pressure runs over time. If your pattern is high blood pressure, we may want to get you on a medication to lower it. Having low blood pressure reduces your risk of other health problems such as stroke.”

 Description: Tina describes her periods as painful, long, and heavy.

 Model Statement: “Those periods sound painful and difficult to deal with. I’m sorry you have so many challenging symptoms. If you are interested, we can talk about hormonal birth control options that can make your periods less painful, or even lighter.”