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thinking will only be possible if you are skilled in active listening. Be aware of the subtle signs of non-verbal communication often portrayed by patients, especially when experiencing chronic pain. Therapists should use clear, adaptive communication with patients, altering their preferred style of communication to ‘match’ their patients. The skills, knowledge and experience are ‘what’ we want to bring to patients. Communication is therefore how we make this ‘what’ effective. This in turn will improve the delivery and effectiveness of patient healthcare you provide and help you build a loyal patient caseload.
References
1. Pelley J Peck K. Patient communication and personality types. School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. 2012 [Electronic Source] http://spxj.nl/ZDSs8p
2. D’Ambrosia R. Orthopaedics in the new millennium. A new patient-physician partnership. Journal of Bone Joint Surgery American 1999;81:447–451
3. Kendall NAS, Linton SJ, Main CJ. Guide to assessing psychosocial yellow flags in acute low back pain: risk factors for long-term disability and work loss. Wellington, New Zealand: Accident Rehabilitation & Compensation Insurance Corporation of New Zealand, and the National Health
Committee, Ministry of Health, 1997.
4. Turner, J. A. & Clancy, S.
Comparison of operant-behavioral and cognitive-behavioral group treatment for chronic low back pain. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1988;58:573–579.
FURTHER RESOURCES Silverman J, Kurtz, S, Draper, J. Skills for Communicating with Patients. Radcliffe Publishing Ltd 2004. ISBN 1857756401 (£27.54). Buy from Amazon http://spxj.nl/XI5VpS McCorry LK, Mason J. Communication Skills for the Healthcare Professional. Springhouse Publishing
2011. ISBN 1582558140 (£31.30). Buy from Amazon http://spxj.nl/Z1QCcX
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Non-verbal communication
BOX 5: CASE STUDY
A 48-year-old male who is registered deaf with a 1-year history of ongoing coccyx/sacrum pain that referred down to his left lateral thigh, struggled to clearly articulate his symptoms using lip reading to another physiotherapist. After a prolonged course of manual therapy for coccydynia and chronic iliotibial tract syndrome, this patient sought a second opinion and through constructive non-verbal signs the second therapist was able to reproduce his symptoms for the first time through a positive straight leg-raise. This lead to an urgent lumbar spine MRI scan that identified a large sequestrated disc herniation at L2/3, which was immediately removed through a mirco-disectomy and successfully relieved the patient’s original symptoms.
THE AUTHOR TH
Lewis Wood is a clinical specialist in musculoskeletal
therapy and sports injuries. He is a physiotherapist (BSc Hons, HPC, MCSP), osteopath (MSc Hons, GOC, BOA), medical acupuncturist (MAACP, CGIMS), clinical pilates instructor and sports massage therapist (MSMA). Lewis worked as a physiotherapist at Athens 2004 and London 2012 Olympic games and is the founder of the Body Align Clinic, a multidisciplinary private practice based in Lewes, East Sussex.
y and sports injuries. Verbal communication
Avoid pitfalls of mis-
communication Adaptive
communication style
EFFECTIVE PATIENT
COMMUNICATION
Reflective listening
Patient– therapist relationship
Skilled thinking
Clinical intuition
Skills/
knowledge/ experience
KEY POINT Knowing the
subtle signs of non-
Figure 1: A summary of the key factors important for effective patient communication
verbal communication skills will enable therapists to avoid the common pitfalls of miscommunication, facilitating a positive medical encounter.
n How would you describe your own preferred style of communication and how could you adapt this style to match your patient’s?
n Discuss the key components of effective communication highlighted in this article.
DISCUSSIONS
n Reflect on a difficult patient encounter where you used advanced communication skills to resolve conflict and avoided miscommunication.
sportEX dynamics 2013;36(April):22-26
Successful medical encounter