Getting ready for a GP appointment with Thrive and Ask Thrive

You've finally got the appointment. Then you're in the chair, the conversation moves quickly, and on the way home you remember the one thing you most meant to mention. If that sounds familiar, it doesn't mean you did anything wrong. GP appointments can feel short, and it's hard to sum up weeks of how you've been on the spot.

The good news is that if you wear the Thrive Band, a lot of that picture is already in the app. Your sleep, HRV, heart rate and activity build up day and night, and the check-ins you record sit alongside them. Here's how to use Thrive to get ready, and how to bring what matters into the room with you.

Why getting ready helps

healthdirect, the free Australian health information service, says asking questions about your health helps you understand your options and make the decisions that are right for you. A little time with your own information beforehand makes that easier. You arrive knowing what you'd like to talk about, and you're less likely to leave with the most important thing unsaid.

Your weeks are already in Thrive

You don't need to piece the last month together from memory. Thrive keeps it for you.

Your trends over time. Sleep, sleep stages, HRV, resting heart rate and activity are there night by night and week by week, so you can look back over the stretch you want to talk about.
Your personal baseline. Thrive learns what's usual for you. Your baseline starts as Emerging and becomes Established once enough consistent information has been collected, so you can see whether recent weeks look different from your normal, rather than from an average.
Your check-ins. Mood, symptoms and how you've been feeling can be recorded as daily check-ins, so the things that don't show up in a reading are part of the picture too.
Your medicines. Thrive includes medication schedules and tracking. healthdirect suggests bringing a list of all your medicines to an appointment, and if you keep yours in Thrive, it's already on your phone.

Getting ready with Ask Thrive

Ask Thrive is the part of Thrive you talk to in everyday language. It draws on your own information and explains your patterns in plain English. In the days before an appointment, you might ask:

"What's changed in the past six weeks compared with my usual?" A plain-English summary of what looks different can help you see where to start.
"What else was going on in the weeks I felt flat?" Ask Thrive can point to habits and patterns that tend to go together.
"How has my sleep looked since this started?" Useful when something began at a particular time.
"Help me put my questions about my sleep into words for my GP." Sometimes the hardest part is knowing how to ask.

Ask Thrive gives explanations, not medical advice. It highlights patterns in your own information, and it doesn't tell you what a condition is or what's causing something. Your GP knows you and your history, and decisions about your care are made with them.

If you use Thrive's Women's Health section, you can choose to include it when you ask Thrive a question. And if you track with its Perimenopause without periods tool, it can export a Clinician Summary of those check-ins that you can share with your GP if you'd like.

Our guide to Ask Thrive and Personal Baseline Intelligence after 50 explains more about how Ask Thrive works.

In the appointment

Show the app on your phone. Open the trend or week you want to talk about, so your GP can see it with you. You can also look at your information in My Health on the web, on a bigger screen, if that's easier at home beforehand.
Start with how you've been feeling. Your own words matter as much as any chart. The app is there to back you up, not to speak for you.
Bring someone if you'd like. healthdirect suggests a friend or relative can come along to help you remember what was said.
Ask again if something isn't clear. healthdirect suggests asking your doctor to repeat something or say it a different way.
Ask for an interpreter if you need one. The Better Health Channel suggests letting reception know when you book.

Afterwards, keep recording your check-ins. If your GP suggests a change, the weeks that follow will build up in Thrive too, ready for your next visit.

Sharing with Thrive Loops, if you choose

Thrive Loops lets you share selected information with a participating trainer, health professional or someone you trust. You decide what to share and with whom, and you can change or revoke access at any time.

Sharing is always optional. You might prefer to show your phone during the appointment, or share nothing at all. Both are fine.

Taking it to your GP

What Thrive shows isn't a diagnosis, and Thrive isn't designed to tell you that something is wrong. Think of your patterns as one more way to help the conversation along, next to how you've been feeling, which matters just as much.

If something is worrying you, you don't need to have everything sorted in the app before you book. Just make the appointment.

If keeping an eye on your health ever starts to feel stressful, our guide to a calmer way to live with your health data may help.

Before you buy

You'll need a compatible iPhone or Android phone, because the Thrive app is on the Apple App Store and Google Play, in Australia and eight other countries. The app stores are only for downloading the app, though; they aren't where you buy the Band or a Plan. You can buy at thrivehealthband.com, or at a participating World Gym Australia location or health and wellness clinic.

The Thrive Health Band is A$660 for the first year under the launch offer (usually A$740). That includes the Band, which is yours to keep, and 12 months of the Thrive by Optihealth app, My Health on the web, Health Fingerprint, Ask Thrive, Thrive Loops and your data, paid once upfront. Prices are in AUD and include GST. Free Australia-wide shipping during the launch offer (usually A$14.99).

Nothing renews automatically. After your first year, you can get a new band plus 12 more months for A$660, or keep your band and renew the Thrive Connected Plan for A$240 a year (A$20 a month).

You're also covered by a 12-month Thrive Care Warranty, and consumer guarantees under Australian Consumer Law always apply. See Returns if something is wrong with your purchase.

Common questions

Can Ask Thrive tell me what's wrong?

No. Ask Thrive explains patterns in your own information in plain English. Questions about what's going on, and what to do about it, are for your GP.

Do I have to share my Thrive information with my GP?

No. Sharing through Thrive Loops is optional, and you choose what to share, with whom and for how long. You can also simply show your phone, or share nothing.

What if my GP isn't interested in wearable data?

That's okay. How you've been feeling, in your own words, is the most important part. Your patterns are there to help you remember and find the words, whether or not you show them.

How far back should I look?

A few weeks is usually a good place to start. Ask Thrive can help you compare recent weeks with your usual.

For more answers, see Questions.