Some patients are friendly and easy to treat, while others may be angry or aggressive, don’t perform their rehab, are unreliable at attending appointments or are difficult and demanding.
How can you use effective communication strategies to turn these difficult patients into motivated, engaged allies who are working with you to overcome their pain?
Discover practical strategies you can use immediately in the presentation with Simon Olivotto (Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist, FACP), as you explore how to help:
- Passive patients take responsibility for themselves.
- Angry, demanding patients who take out their aggression on their treatment providers, to become an ally and work collaboratively to establish rapport.
- Know-it-alls who have consulted Dr Google, have unhelpful information and beliefs, or only want a specific treatment (such as “put my SIJ back into place”) to work collaboratively with you and steer them towards reputable sources of information.
- Dependent patients to break free from a particular treatment or therapist.
- Non-compliant patients perform their rehab or follow your advice.
- Manipulative patients, and patients who seek multiple opinions.
- Unreliable patients start turning up on time for their appointments, even when they have a lot of other busy competing interests.
- Negative and catastrophising patients.
- Patients in denial of the severity of their problem come to terms with it.
- Demanding patients, so you can balance going the extra mile to be the best physiotherapist in town, and still maintain firm boundaries so you are not taken advantage of.
You’ll know when to show empathy and communicate well, and when you need to set firm boundaries and show “tough love”.
You’ll also recognise when “you are the problem” and explore strategies to facilitate better communication, including:
- 3 factors which can be a barrier to effective communication.
- Strategies to help improve your communication skills.
- Recognising how your emotions can influence communication.
- How to practice self-reflection, communication rehearsal skills and why discussions and feedback with colleagues can be a helpful strategy at improving your communication.
Enjoy this presentation now to accurately identify the factors and patient problems that are contributing to your difficult patient encounters, and develop communication skills that cause your patients to be more satisfied with their care, so you can enjoy less stress and more job satisfaction.
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