Two articles published over the last two weeks suggest that we might be having some problems talking to our patients. The first, by Sullivan, Hebron and Vuoskoski (Sullivan, Hebron, & Vuoskoski, 2019) looks at the anxiety experienced by physiotherapists ‘selling’ their own explanations of chronic pain to patients. The therapists were trying to be patient-centred, but their efforts were undermined by ‘an underlying paternalistic wish to get patients “on board”’ (ibid). The authors attribute this anxiety to the confidence that the therapists feel in their biomedical understanding for pain, coming up against the patient’s values and beliefs that either contradict or destabilise their … [Read more...] about Having trouble talking to your patients?
Can you teach physiotherapists to be empathic?
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the capabilities that health professionals will need in the future. This is partly because the sheer economics of future healthcare will mean that other ways of delivering routine tasks - those that once required extensive training and expensively employed specialists to deliver them - will be given managed by smart machines, wearables, robotics and AI. A friend of mine was saying the other day that she recently sat with her elderly mother in hospital for two weeks during a bout of illness, and during that time only two of the nurses actually took time to build a relationship with them. The others just came in to do things to her: … [Read more...] about Can you teach physiotherapists to be empathic?
What is at the heart of physiotherapy?
Mike Stewart posted an interesting picture (link) on his Facebook feed a couple of days ago (thanks to Paul Lagerman - The Naked Physio - for the link, and Mike for posting). Participants on Mike's course were asked to respond to the prompt; "If I designed a healthcare course for students, the first 3 lessons would be...' The responses proved interesting. https://www.facebook.com/100008119901926/posts/2199382033675772/ My suspicion is that if you asked any experienced physiotherapist, they are likely to say something similar. In fact, the evidence suggests that most employers, practitioners, and consumers want their clinicians to have good communications skills, be empathic, … [Read more...] about What is at the heart of physiotherapy?
30 Days of September: Day 27
Today's image was suggested by Ralph Hammond. Click on the image to open it to full size. You can then save it and turn it into a desktop background by following these brief instructions. … [Read more...] about 30 Days of September: Day 27
Målfrid Råheim – The Social Body – 30DoS #8
Crossley claims that sociology has not solved the philosophical puzzle of dualism, which means that questions of embodiment have not been worked through satisfactory in order to understand agency, identity and the nature of social practice. In The Social Body (2001) he discusses these issues by focusing on the sensuous nature of human perception, emotion and desire, and the corporeal basis of agency, communication and thought. Habit and embodied practice are core concepts in his discussion, heavily grounding his arguments in the phenomenology of the body, and in sociological theory which includes the body. He claims that the notion of habitus (Bourdieu) is not working without a deeper … [Read more...] about Målfrid Råheim – The Social Body – 30DoS #8
Ralph Hammond – The theory of communicative action – 30DoS #7
If you are new to the CPN or this 30 Day of September campaign, we run a month of daily posts on a different topic each year. This year we are focusing on ideas, articles, books, films, etc., that have inspired members of the Network. There will be a different post from a different CPN member each day until the end of the month. In this post, longtime CPN member, researcher and lecturer Ralph Hammond talks about Jurgen Habermas's book The theory of communicative action. Spanish translation provided by CPN Exec member Alma Viviana Silva. The Theory of Communicative Action (1984) addresses social action, intersubjective communication and social change. It tries to preserve the … [Read more...] about Ralph Hammond – The theory of communicative action – 30DoS #7
Tobba Sudmann – Presentation of self in everyday life – 30DoS #5
In this post, Norwegian physiotherapy lecturer, researcher and hippotherapy practitioner Tobba Sudman talks about Erving Goffman's book Presentation of self in everyday life. Spanish translation provided by CPN Exec member Alma Viviana Silva. Presentation of self in everyday life (1959) was Goffman’s first of 11 books, detailing social interaction as a bridge over the actor-structure divide in social theory. Goffman’s key message is that social interaction is a moral and precarious endeavor, in which we all are embedded. Social interaction is communication with all kinds of signs and micro-behavior, designed for mutual impression management, interpretation and creation of working … [Read more...] about Tobba Sudmann – Presentation of self in everyday life – 30DoS #5