Trends in the field of rehabilitation

When patients reflect on their
physical therapy visits, it is often the rapport and communication style that they remember or comment on, not necessarily the technical skill of the physical therapist. (p.14)

http://www.cptbc.org/pdf/MakingAConnection.pdf

This article, from the College of Physical Therapists of B.C., gives some great information and techniques on how to effectively communicate with patients in order to gain trust, build rapport and ultimately get better rehabilitation results because of positive relationships.

I have been a Occupational/Physical Therapy Assistant working in hospitals around Vancouver for 1 year and now I am also working as a Lab Demonstrator for a program that trains OT/PTAs, or Rehab Assistants as we are commonly know in the health care world.

Over the last 6 months in the OPTA program we have been noticing that a growing number of students are having trouble with communication and although they are passing their practical skills exams they are not doing as well once they are out in the field working on their practicums. It seems that the major problems are stemming from an inability to effectively communicate verbally and non-verbally with clients and supervising therapists. What we are realizing is that not enough weight is put on communication skills in the classroom and in the practical exams. The challenge is, how do you evaluate the so called "soft skills" (a name I personally disagree with as they are actually harder to learn!) and weight them in an exam so as to make it a priority for students to work on? We are currently working on a more global rating scale that captures communication, professionalism, ability to problem solve as well as have insight in to your own performance. It is going to be an ongoing process but we are dedicated to making the classroom a more effective place to learn these skills instead of hoping that students will pick them up when they get out in to the field.

The issue of poor communication and rapport building is wide spread throughout the healthcare industry and my hope is that more professions will start to put emphasis on effective communication skills in the training stage to help move the entire health care system forward in to a new style of treatment that is even more client centred than it is at present.