Beau Bennett, a character from the Netflix series “The Ranch,” visits the doctor after hurting his back while playing football with his sons. Beau’s character is depicted as a very stubborn old man who is set in his ways and loves to eat steak and drink alcohol. Beau finally decides to see the doctor and finds out that it has been over 12 years since his last appointment, and because of that, his doctor decides to do a full examination. Along with writing a prescription for his back pain, his doctor also found that he has a high risk of developing hypertension. She informs him that in order to reduce his risk for hypertension he needs to limit how much red meat and alcohol he consumes and find a better way to cope with stress. Because he was only there for his back pain, Beau wants nothing to do with this extra information. For the man that eats a steak every night and drinks every day, this is life changing news.
It is not uncommon for older generations to be stuck in their ways, Beau does not want to have to change his lifestyle because of a disease that he is at risk for. If this were occurring in real life, it would be up to the health care team to be therapeutic and talk to him about what this disease is and how to make these life changes easier. For Beau, it is not going to be an overnight change, he is going to need to make gradual steps toward a healthier lifestyle. I think the doctor in this clip failed to be therapeutic and adjust her teaching mechanisms to fit Beau’s learning style. I think what she did do well is maintaining professionalism even when the patient can come off as grouchy and uncooperative. For Beau’s case, it would be more beneficial for the doctor to talk with the patient’s family so they can be more active and helpful to aid in Beau’s changes. For example, she could teach the family about good meals/snacks to prepare to help Beau transition away from eating red meat. She could also teach him about therapeutic ways to deal with stress and to teach his family about how to help him through stressful times. Also it would be very helpful to teach the patient about why it is so important for their health to make these lifestyle changes in the first place. It is important to be able to adapt to each patient’s individual needs when it comes to therapeutical patient education.