On my musculoskeletal outpatients placement, I had a patient who presented with lower back pain, with the main aggravating factor being prolonged sitting (approximately 30 minutes). My treatment and management with this patient involved mobilisations and postural retraining.
About 3 weeks from her initial visit, I began with my subjective assessment to see how she is progressing. She stated that she did not feel that she was improving, as the intensity of her pain was at a similar level as when she first started physiotherapy. I thought to myself that she must have had some improvement, as she has been having treatment for the past 3 weeks. I then decided to focus on the aggravating factors, and asked her how long can she stay in sitting until the pain increases. She then stated that she was able to sit comfortably for longer than that of the initial session (approximately 1 hr), making her realise that she has made some improvement.
I FEEL THAT MONITORING THE PATIENTS RESPONSE TO TREATMENT FROM THE PATIENT'S PERSPECTIVE AND GOAL SETTING WILL HELP GIVE THE PATIENT AN IDEA ON HOW MUCH THEY ARE IMPROVING, THEREFORE MAINTAINING THEIR FAITH IN PHYSIOTHERAPY TREATMENT. IN THE FUTURE, I WILL CONTINUE TO THINK ABOUT PATIENT'S GOALS AND THEIR FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS IN TERMS OF MONITORING RESPONSE TO TREATMENT, THUS, HOPEFULLY INCREASING PATIENT SATISFACTION.
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This is something I have begun to realise over this year. As a student I was so focused on the goals I wanted to achieve to show my treatment was effective. But ultimately the patients perception of their condition is what counts so the goals must be tailored to their needs and sometimes you need to remind them how they are improving because they can forget!
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