Dear Mel et al
--
>
>3. Become a good, empathetic communicator who listens well and makes the
>patient feel safe, special and convinced.
>
This is the only item on your list that I didn't chuckle at (thanks by the
way for the diversion). I think there is a huge role for this sort of
clinical behaviour in many patient groups. I don't think as a profession we
do this half enough, certainly not many of the medical specialists that I
know. I guess really that this is another sort of placebo but, as I've said
before on this list, I have no problem with the use of the placebo in
treatment. The difficulty is in trying to reconcile its use with one's
committment to evidence based medicine and informed patient consent. I find
this especially challenging (and often rewarding) in patients with chronic
pain or who are involved in litigation and who have complex biopsychosocial
issues. My problem as a physio (one of them) is that it is so hard to get
through to the patient that it's OK to get better and that I am on their
side. No matter how much I tell them that all the evidence shows that they
will get better with acitivity rather than worse they will never buy it if
they don't feel I empthise with them and listen to them. The patients that
I find it hard to empathise with and fail to communicate/listen to
effectively are often the ones that I struggle with. So let's not throw the
baby out with the bathwater and consign our non physical therapeutic skills
to the realm of quackery.
Emilie McGrath
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