From time to time, an article appears highlighting a patient’s negative experience with physical therapy. Recently, a Washington Post article highlighted a costly, unsatisfactory physical therapy experience. This week’s expert, Ann Wendel, PT, ATC, CMTPT owner of PranaPT addressed this situation in her blog and shares some tips on how physical therapists can avoid this scenario.
To truly understand things from a patient’s perspective, Wendel refers to something she learned in her Pain Sciences course work “the pain is where the patient says it is, when they say it is, and it is as bad as they say it is, because it is THEIR pain.” She states this is critical to really understand the situation from a patient’s perspective and helps a therapist become a partner in their treatment. Listen to the full podcast now to learn why it’s important for physical therapists to explain what the treatment plan is and why certain treatment techniques are being done to help patients understand the true value of physical.
2 Comments
Great post
This is very true. Working particularly in chronic pain in Australia, it is a daily challenge for patients to feel understood, and to have people listen to their story. Physical Therapists seem to be well trained in listening to patients and showing empathy.
Luke McManus.
Great article, I hurt my knee during the Insanity program 2 months ago. I figured I was safe from injury, seeing as the program is done at home and I can pace myself as I see fit. I trusted Orthopaedics Plus in Beverly, MA because of the amazing work they did with my son for his football injury. They really showed me the value of physical therapy. I’m finally waking up pain free and I can actually move like I used to! They also showed me how to be more careful in the future, check out their site: http://www.orthopaedicsplus.com.