What makes the difference between average or below-average physical therapy experiences and great ones? A supportive clinical culture that empowers you to take a hands-on approach is a must. As a PT, you’re responsible for helping patients achieve their treatment goals. The assessment and treatment plan are critical tools you’ll use on this journey, but you’ll need something else in order to use them effectively. The X factor in standout physical therapy experiences is the strength of your relationship, which you develop through patient-provider communication.
This is about more than being a people person or having a good bedside manner. Communication in patient care has to go both ways, and you must begin by helping your patients feel comfortable enough to share their honest points of view. After all, you can only keep your patients engaged if you have a sense of their personal concerns and motivations for pursuing treatment.
This article lists nine tips to help you practice more effective patient communication with your physical therapy patients.
How can I improve my patient communication as a physical therapist?
The foundational goals of patient communication are to gain your patients’ trust and engage them with their treatment process. When you have a positive, trusting relationship and your patients are taking an active part in their own treatment, that’s when they’ll be able to achieve success with overall treatment goals. The tips in the list below are the specific skills you’ll need and actions you’ll take during sessions to build this type of relationship.
Many of these skills need to be developed over time with self-awareness and practice. However, there are a few areas where some self-education can help you as well. The most basic elements to understand are the types of communication available to you, including verbal, nonverbal, written and electronic. You can also learn about the patient-centered motivational interviewing approach to get on the same level as your patients and keep them engaged with their treatment decisions. Finally, you can learn about personality types through a framework like Myers-Briggs. This will help you quickly identify your patients’ interests and communication styles so you can adapt to create a more personalized experience.
9 tips for improving your physical therapy patient communication
PT sessions are short. When you’re seeing a lot of patients each day, it can be tempting to maintain control of your time by doing most of the talking. There will be times when this is appropriate, for instance, when you’re educating a patient about their condition. However, your patients won’t feel engaged if they’re passively receiving information from start to finish.
Each session should start with a check-in to find out how your patient is feeling that day and what’s new. Use open-ended questions to explore their point of view when it comes to their condition, their treatment goals and the methods you’ll use to achieve them. Don’t let note-taking become a distraction, but use written and digital communication to supplement what you’re working on during sessions. Once you’ve established a mutual awareness of your patient’s challenges, you can step in with education, practical tips and treatment recommendations.
Use these nine tips to improve your physical therapy patient communication:
- Get out from behind the computer — This is one of the biggest communication challenges that gets in the way of better patient relationships. Busy PTs often create a physical and interpersonal barrier when they stay behind their screen, typing notes during patient sessions. Documentation is important, and we’ll get to that in a moment. However, making eye contact with your patients and being fully present with them should come first.
- Do one thing at a time — This can be hard when you have back-to-back appointments all day, every day. But you can only give your patients your full attention if you’re not worried about getting every detail into your notes or talking nonstop. When you’re providing a hands-on treatment, show that you’re focused by pausing your conversation. When you need to write down something important, it may help to say, “That’s important — give me a second to write it down.”
- Practice active listening — When your patient is talking, practice active listening by keeping your eyes on them and responding. Use statements like “I see” and ask clarifying questions. When they’re finished, summarize what they’ve said and ask them if you’re understanding them correctly. Type out only the most essential points and any specific wording that’s significant. Then try to reserve a few minutes at the end of the session to flesh out your notes.
- Engage patients with their treatment — The more engaged your patients are with their treatment, the more they will share with you. During your first sessions, you should be doing more listening and observing than speaking. When it’s time to solidify their treatment plan, involve them in the decision-making process. Give your patients a sense of agency by starting with their awareness and their thoughts.
- Practice motivational interviewing — People most often resist behavior change because of an internal conflict. Motivational interviewing is a patient-focused technique in which you help your patients navigate their ambivalence to find solutions they can agree to. Your role is to help them consider alternatives from a nonjudgmental point of view and take part in creating a new plan of action.
- Write it down — Your notes to your patient are likely the only communication they can reference in between sessions. Use them to highlight progress and provide clear instructions. Write down the specific names of any products or resources you mentioned in the session. Also remind patients why the exercises and recommendations you’ve listed will be beneficial.
- Try not to interrupt your patients — This is another thing that’s difficult when you feel like you’re in a time crunch. Patients are much more likely to stick with a treatment program when they feel seen and heard. If you must redirect a patient when they’re on a tangent, ask a question to help them get to the information you’re looking for.
- Stay mindful of each patient’s treatment goals and barriers to treatment — This is more about remembering your patients’ reasons for pursuing treatment or what brings them back for each session. Speak to their motivations often. When patients aren’t “doing their homework,” take a compassionate approach to understanding why and then help them troubleshoot those barriers to find workable solutions.
- Mirror your patients’ language and body language — This helps your patients feel at home expressing themselves in whatever way comes naturally to them. You have to listen first before you can speak in terms they’ll understand. Try to match your patients’ energy to meet them where they are each day.
- Respect your patients’ personal space and practice consent — Anytime you provide a treatment that requires you to touch your patient, make sure they understand exactly what’s going to happen and give you permission to proceed. You have to work to maintain this trust because once you’ve lost it, it’s nearly impossible to get it back.
Is patient communication posing a challenge for you? Alliance PTP is here to help
The psychosocial and relational components of your patients’ care are just as important as the physical aspect. Our Alliance Physical Therapy Partners podcast on avoiding a negative patient experience is another resource on patient communication that you should check out. We have a great conversation about the biggest communication challenges in the clinic and approaches that help you get around them.
Need a partner to help you address challenges like patient communication? Alliance Physical Therapy Partners’ nationwide partnership in care is here for you.
We’ll help you get the support you need as a newly graduated physical therapist or physical therapy assistant. Even better, you’ll get full access to our employee support services while still maintaining full control over how you’re working to improve your skills.
Find out if our Alliance PTP partnership has a career opening for you today.
