I have chosen to use the photo of a young girl putting her arm around another child in a comforting way. Both children are headed on a very lonely path- it looks as if the child with her arm around the other child is attempting to help the child on his/her way to wherever they’re going.
What I take from this photo is that we could be a bit more sympathetic and empathetic when dealing with our patients, and learning from my general block at New Somerset Hospital, some patients need a bit more attentiveness and comforting than others, especially the patients who suffer from depression- which is often related to their personal lives and social issues. It’s important for us to take a step back and look at things from the patient’s perspective, since we have experienced life differently to them.
Just as the girl is helping the younger child along the way, we as physiotherapists should be present for our patients helping them along the way in their recovery. We should, in our capacity, guide our patients through their difficulties (relating to their functional problems) by providing support, education and motivation.
3 thoughts on “Guiding our patients through recovery”
Sympathy and empathy was one of the topics we spoke about in class, which means that the essay does reflect the module content. Maybe you could add the definition of sympathy and empathy.
You can maybe add a personal struggle, if you had one, or an experience you had in one of your clinical blocks regarding empathy and sympathy.
In the second paragraph you state that patients need more attentiveness, etc. See if you can back that up with an article.
As mentioned above, add some references that can support the claims you are making.
I would say that the text flow logically.
sympathy and empathy do link with the picture in the way you described it.
Easy to read and follow.
Add some references to support your statements,articles on how to help the patient through recovery with more empathy ect.
Add in something that can link to clinical practice, maybe a situation you have been in or just over all.
Dear Timothy,
I enjoyed reading your piece which you have written for this assignment. I especially like you choice of image to support your piece.
Content: The content of your writing does partly use the concepts as described in the module. Although I do feel that you could have elaborated more on the relevant concepts (i.e. empathy, professionalism and ethics).
Clinical practice: I see that you referred to an incident with a patient at New Somerset Hospital. I’d suggest that you go into more detail about your encounter with this patient which could possibly include: brief patient demographics, patient’s diagnosis, the patients feelings and attitudes towards the situation, your feelings and attitudes towards the situation, any other relevant party (i.e family members, nursing staff etc.) that might have played a role in your particular experience, and any other event that might have stood out to you. What has this experience taught you? How would it influence your future clinical practice? how would you provide support, education and motivation?
Art: The piece which you have identified is relevant to the topic and to your written piece as it relates to vulnerability of patients in health care institutions, which then relates to the topics of empathy, professionalism and ethics.
Evidence: Your written piece lacks the use of literature to support your claims. I’d suggest you look up articles relating to the following: Emotions experienced by patients in hospitals (more relating to vulnerability); the role of a health professional (or more specifically a physiotherapist) in assessing and treating patients; define sympathetic and empathetic (I’d suggest that you try to include ethics too); why do some patients require more attentiveness than other patients; the impact of depression on physiotherapy treatment and/or \depression as a result of living circumstances (social factors).
Language: Your reflection is well-written, with no grammatical and spelling errors, and it is easy to follow.
Digital literacy: You have used the features of the website by making use of an image to tell a compelling story.