Dr. Vince LeoneOwner, Consultant, Specialized Practice · Owner, Consultant at Specialized Practice

Spousal Support Matters: Crucial for Health Decisions!

4 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief talk, Dr. Vince Leone stresses the importance of assessing a patient’s support system on the very first day of care. He advises clinicians to determine whether a spouse is present to participate in health decisions, or if an adult child or other caregiver can fill that role, especially for older patients. He notes that some patients may be widowed, requiring alternative support strategies. Dr. Leone also highlights practical scheduling challenges, such as patients questioning whether they can attend therapy three times a week, underscoring how support availability directly impacts treatment feasibility.

Chapters

2 is, do you have the support of your spouse? Right? You need to address that. Ideally, the spouse is there. That, again, that's a day 1 problem. If the spouse is not there, you're trying to get the spouse there so that they can make— spouse, or by the way, if it's an older patient, potentially a son or daughter who helps them with their healthcare decisions, right? So, you can address that on day 1. They may not have a spouse anymore, right? They may have— they may be a widow. And so, Right fit, spouse, um, timing, you know, can you make the schedule work? And so some patients will be thinking in their head, I don't know if I can make 3 times a week work.