During an initial patient consult, have you ever thought that you’re embarking on a tough journey, only to have your thoughts confirmed a few weeks later? Have your patients said something like “My back is telling me to try not to move as much” or “I’ve been stressed about a work meeting in a couple of days, and I feel like my back is tightening up and getting more painful”? When you identify psychological, social and work factors impacting your treatment and your patients recovery, how do you address these and help your patient along their journey to recovery? Are there other more subtle psychosocial clues your patient may be handing out that will also impact your treatment and you need to address?
We’re familiar with the biopsychosocial (BPS) approach. We’ve heard the term, and definitely take psychological and social factors into account with our patients. You know psychosocial considerations are important, but sometimes, while we’re figuring out what to do with them, the temptation is to get to work on the “bio” factors and see what happens to the psychosocial factors. You get your patient into an exercise program, and add in some education on activities that we’d like them to progress or limit for good measure. After all, you’re a Physio, not a counsellor or psychologist!
It’s true, we’re not psychologists, but these psychosocial elements definitely do seem to limit our patient results. Will incorporating more of a psychosocial approach into your treatment really make any difference? Is there a way you can easily incorporate the psychosocial elements into your “bio” treatment?
Now Available - Presentation 9 - Biopsychosocial approach - Turning a buzzword into the missing piece of your clinical reasoning with David Toomey
With this presentation by David Toomey (Musculoskeletal Physio & PhD candidate), you’ll become a psychologically informed clinician, able to use a BPS approach with your patients right from their initial appointment. You’ll discover:
- Simple strategies to implement a BPS approach into your current treatment & clinical reasoning, to add clarity with patients that have you scratching your head.
- How to overcome common challenges of using a BPS approach.
- How to identify patients that have a more difficult path ahead so that you can build a management plan together.
- What yellow, blue, and black flags are, and how they affect your treatment
- How to pick up smaller indications of psychosocial elements when your patients are only giving you glimpses of small, cocktail sized yellow, blue or black flags instead of waving big banners or flags around to get your attention.
- When to refer patients for additional psychological input.
- How to confidently screen, identify, treat and manage patients using a patient-centred BPS approach.
- How to address psychosocial factors without feeling like you are swapping your “physio” hat for a “counseling” hat!
Aims and Objectives
- Understand the importance and the role of a BPS approach in clinical reasoning.
- Incorporate a BPS approach with patients.
- Know how to tailor treatment to patient needs using a BPS approach.
- Know how to ask the right clinical questions to obtain relevant information for you and your patient.
- Learn how to access the psychosocial factors that you need for clinical success.
- Understand how to apply your clinical reasoning in a way that acknowledges your patient’s beliefs and expectations through a biopsychosocial approach.
- Use simple strategies to implement a BPS approach with patients.
This presentation gives you the clarity and confidence to use psychologically informed treatment with your patients. You can use a BPS approach, not just for complex or tricky patients, but to improve your clarity, clinical reasoning and treatment results with each of your patients.
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