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Companions 'Untapped Resource' For Health Care Visits, Poll Finds
- September 30, 2025
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
Following doctor's orders may not be as easy as it sounds, especially when patients are alone in the exam room. Middle-aged folks and seniors mostly go it alone to a doctor’s appointment, a new poll shows, even though those who bring a companion report it's helpful.
Just under 2 in 5 people 50 and older (38%) said another adult has gone with them to one of their health care appointments, according to the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging.
Likewise, only about 34% said they’d accompanied another person in their age group to at least one visit, the poll found.
However, 92% of those who had a companion come with them said it was helpful, results showed.
Companions can help ask questions, explain points of confusion, take notes and follow up on the advice the patients receive, researchers said. They also can help with transportation, emotional support and mobility issues.
“As a primary care physician, my priority is to ensure that my patients and I use our time together well, and that they leave with the information and next steps they need to understand and manage their health conditions. So, if they want to have another person who can support them in the room or as part of a telehealth visit, I welcome it,” said poll director Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren, an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.
“When the health care companion is the patient’s caregiver because of cognitive issues or complex medical conditions, this support can be absolutely vital,” he added in a news release.
Of those who were unaccompanied, 80% felt they didn’t need the help and 20% preferred to go alone. About 11% said they didn’t want to be a burden, and 6% said no one was available to go with them.
Among those who brought a companion, 83% said it made them comfortable sharing their health information and 79% said it helped them follow through on their doctor’s instructions. All told, 76% said it had a positive impact on the quality of their care.
“These findings suggest an untapped resource for helping improve how patients interact with the health care system, especially those with complex health needs,” Kullgren said.
The most common companions were spouses or partners (71%), followed by adult children (20%).
Women were less likely than men to have someone accompany them, with 35% saying they brought a companion compared with 42% of men, poll results showed.
People in fair or poor physical health were more likely to have had a companion, as were people with a disability that limited their daily activities.
Seniors were more likely than folks in their 50s or early 60s to have brought a companion.
The poll, conducted in February by phone and online, involved 2,883 people 50 to 97 across the U.S.
More information
Harvard Medical School has more on “medical wingmen.”
SOURCE: University of Michigan, news release, Sept. 19. 2025
