The Importance of Support

This quarter I had the unique experience of learning about health coaching and motivational interviewing in this elective as well as two of my core physical therapy classes–Psychosocial Issues in Rehab Sciences (PT 735) and Education, Health Promotion, Wellness, and Prevention in Physical Therapy (PT 704). Each of these classes provided me with different lenses and ways of utilizing health coaching and motivational interviewing in my practice as a physical therapist.

During both of my Word on the Wards (WoW) sessions I was made aware of two important subjects I do not tend to ask patients/clients about–1) who makes up their support system and their roles in the patient’s support system and 2) how they are coping with whatever is on their plate. As a second year physical therapy (PT) student, a majority of my questions had to do with their home set up, their mobility, and any limitations or barriers they have with these due to their current health status. While these topics are important, the patient’s support system and methods for coping give me important information regarding their motivations and barriers.

Currently, there is a dramatic push for increasing productivity across all healthcare fields. In the PT profession this push leads to reduced session times so that more patients can be seen per day. Conversations about psychosocial subjects, such as motivations and barriers, can be emotionally taxing for patients so these exchanges can be time consuming. The classes I took this quarter have made me more aware of how essential conversations regarding psychosocial topics are for successful patient care. Talking with patients about their motivations and barriers helps providers build rapport with them and enables providers to understand their patients’ experiences better. In the long run, I believe that this will lead to more productive PT sessions as physical therapists will be able to utilize the information they learn about each of their patients to guide their plans of care and exercise plans, and as motivation for patients during their sessions.

In January I begin my inpatient clinical experience at an acute rehab unit in San Leandro. This facility is linked to a county hospital so I anticipate that I will encounter a similar patient population to ZSFG. I hope to be able to utilize tools, like motivational interviewing and health coaching, that I learned in WoW. Furthermore, I hope to refine my skills so that I am able to implement these methods in an efficient manner and with as many patients as possible.