(Kaur, 2014)
The above short poem by Rupi Kaur from the book Milk and Honey which I chose as my piece of art for this ethics task.
The above poem with the accompanying artwork, to me, illustrates the relationship between any health professional and the patient. The poem is short and yet effective in bringing the message across. The poem can be seen in different contexts but in the context of a patient and physiotherapist relationship, the poem illustrates how the patient would present with their condition and in need of help and the physiotherapist would be there to assist where applicable. In addition, the short poem offers emotion of the patient by making use of the word “cry” which bares a negative connotation; this highlights that the patient’s problem or condition has not only affected the physical health of the patient but their emotional one too and that the physiotherapist should be aware of this. The response line in the next stanza of the poem illustrates emotion in the form of empathy towards the person who spoke in the first stanza (the patient) and the response shows a physical connection to the patient where the response says: “I hold you”.
Reflecting on the poem and picture in terms of my own clinical experience; I would say it is applicable as many a times I have experienced a situation where the patient presents as very demotivated and cannot quite seem to figure out what exactly is causing their pain. In most cases such as these, I focused more on the patient’s physical pain rather than checking on their emotional state or providing them with some form of consolidation to what the underlying reason for their pain could be. Therefore, I feel the poem is appropriate to illustrate that a physiotherapist or any health professional should not only care for their patients for what is on the surface but to acknowledge the fact that some patient’s pain is caused by an underlying fact such as emotion. It could be said that there should be a professional boundary between the patient and the physiotherapist in terms of emotional attachment and how the physiotherapist reacts to the patient’s condition and/or situation but through reflecting on the picture, I can now say that in the past I have focused solely on the surface of the patient’s pain and condition and emotionally detached myself from the patient but now, I see the importance of a more holistic approach when treating the patient and the value of emotional support.
With regards to ethics in clinical practice, the picture illustrates the ethical duties of a physiotherapist and all other health professionals such as: to act in the best interest of the patient, to provide the patient with the information they need to make an informed decision and to promote access to healthcare *REF* . These are but some of the ethical duties to patients which illustrate the importance and relevance to the above poem. Health professionals take an oath to first do no harm *REF* but if the patient is being treated at a superficial level for their condition, are we truly living up to that oath. We may be doing no harm by promoting health care on a physical level but continued lack of emotional support leads to harming the patient on an emotional and deeper level.
2 thoughts on “It’s deeper than a physical problem”
Hi Gillian,
Thank you for sharing your writing with us. Please see my feedback below.
Content: The content does reflect on this module. It is aligned with the class discussion about ethics. Your writing and the poem are a good representation of one another. I can see how the two links up. Your last paragraph describes the ethical duties of a physiotherapist well.
Argument: There was an argument made that physiotherapist treat the physical problem of the patient and lack emotional support. This claim was supported by your personal experience and this is satisfactory. However, by adding more evidence, it can make your argument stronger. I suggest that you search for evidence related to holistic treatment of patients.
References: I rated your references as poor due to them not being present. I can see that you are still going to add a reference where you said “*REF*”. Just remember when doing your final piece to add the correct in-text reference and to add the reference list at the bottom of your piece.
Writing: Your writing is satisfactory. Well done on making your piece flow logically. Every paragraph has its own topic, but I like how they all link together. One or two of your sentences tend to be a bit lengthy and therefore they can be difficult to read. Try breaking up these long sentences by adding connecting words. Otherwise your piece is written well, there are no spelling or grammar mistakes that I could find.
Comments: Overall, I really enjoyed reading your piece. We as physiotherapist do tend to treat the patient physical state and forget about their emotional state. I also agree that we should not detach ourselves from our patients and treat them holistically.
Hi Gillian
Thank you for sharing your ethical piece, I truly enjoyed it. Please find my feedback below
Content: (Excellent) Your piece reflected on the content we discussed so far in class. I truly enjoyed how you linked empathy and a physiotherapist’s ethical duties towards patient care, with the art work.
Argument: (Satisfactory) I enjoyed how you approached the fact that a patient should be treated as a whole and not only treated for a physical problem. This can be made stronger by adding references to support your argument and thus having a bigger impact on the reader. I enjoyed how you incorporated empathy at the beginning of the piece. I suggest that you try to expand on it further during the piece, since your art work plays a big role in illustrating a therapist’s empathy towards a patient.
References: I noticed you made an indication of where you would like to add references in your piece. Please remember to add them for your final submission to support your arguments.
Writing: (Excellent) I truly enjoyed how you wrote your piece. It was easy to read and understand.
Thanks again for sharing your piece. I enjoyed who you linked the poem to the ethical principles discussed in the piece. It is great to read that we as students realise that a patient’s emotional well-being plays an important role in the way we approach our treatment as therapists. Take a look at the comments and see where you can make any changes to make your piece even stronger. Keep well.