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As a physical therapist in training, I'm slowly discovering that nearly every patient facing experience is a teaching opportunity. It doesn't have to be as directly related to treatment as instructing a patient on how to safely perform a therapeutic exercise, we can even use that initial meeting with the patient to educate them about the breadth and depth of the physical therapy profession and instill in them a sense of confidence in the healing process. Sometimes this type of teaching can be even more important than teaching someone an exercise as confidence in PT can predict the likelihood that the patient goes home and actually adheres to the home exercise program. Content knowledge is an important tool in the PT's toolbox, but bedside manner can be very useful as well.

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I believe that patient education plays a crucial role in both the treatment and prevention aspect of physical therapy.
While the skills and knowledge of a physical therapist are key for  a successful  rehabilitation, the awareness and knowledgeable participation of the patient  is  imperative.
Educating the patient means creating a trusty relationship, a team work and a valuable participation.
Educating  a patient means also empowering the patient with the necessary tools to care for him or herself and perhaps prevent future injuries.
During my volunteering  journey in both the inpatient and outpatient  clinic,  I was able to clearly see the huge difference between a patient empowered by knowledge and awareness and a patient  that was not.  The role of an educator is not a simple one and doesn't just require academic knowledge but many other skills and can't not be taken lightly.
I see my self in an out patient clinic working closely with my patients to teach them using the most appropriate commtools how to properly move and use their body  in everyday life activities  or favorite sports

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Of the many roles and responsibilities of a Physical therapist, educating their patients and people around them is one aspect of importance. As a health care professional it is important to promote that and reinforce better health habits for not only their patients, but also people around them. For example, during this pandemic, many people are skeptical about the vaccine. However, it is important to enlighten and promote the act of getting the vaccine and also educate people to show that it is not harmful and clarify and uncertainties. Specifically as a physical therapist, one may have to educate their patient as to why a certain treatment plan is necessary or a certain exercise should be done for the improvement of the patients' own health. Educating the patient and teaching them the exercise is also important so that they perform the exercise correctly and dont hurt themselves. Educating reinforces the aspect that the patient is there to get better and can even give them motivation and a peace of mind.

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Physical therapists are not just life-long learners as we will continue our pursuit for knowledge of the field but will also become teachers towards different populations during our practice. Physical therapists teach patients about their conditions and what must be done to get towards or as close towards a full recovery. Some examples being the utilization of ambulation devices, how to move optimally for a specific task, instructing how to strengthen what needs to be strengthened, guidance towards achieving their goals and more. Patients become more aware of their body with the guidance of a physical therapist. As physical therapist students proceed through the program they will go through their clinical rotations. At each setting they will gain real life experience under the guidance of a clinical instructor that is a physical therapist. Students will, most likely, one day be in the same shoes receiving and instructing their own students throughout their length of a clinical rotation. Here, clinical instructors will expose students to the environment of a specific setting that they work at which could be acute care, orthopedic, pediatric, etc. Clinical instructors will teach them how they operate their jobs and hopefully pour their knowledge and experiences into the students they take on. This will continue to develop as the practicing physical therapists continue to learn and develop themselves. This role of being a teacher does not necessarily end towards patients and students but can also continue towards other therapists and professionals. As previously mentioned, physical therapists continue to learn and develop through their careers. More seasoned therapists may act as mentors to new graduates and hires. They will also become specialist within their own field, setting or area of interest and can offer such knowledge to other therapists and health care providers. Current and future physical therapists are not only life-long learners but are life-long teachers as well.

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As a physical therapist our role is not only helping patients / clients with becoming successful in their rehabilitation, we also have a duty to help educate our patients / clients with understanding why doing the specific exercise is important for them to be successful. When I was volunteering at a physical therapy clinic one of the PTs had to educate a patient on why it was important for her to do dorsiflexion exercises. The PT explained the exercises in a way that connected with the patient’s goal of being able to walk on her own. After their talk, I saw the patient begin to put in more effort in doing the exercises correctly as well as show more motivation to do the exercise on her own when she got home.

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Patient education is becoming more common place in clinical settings because of how important it has proven to be in patient progress. For a profession that relies heavily on increasing compliance to HEP and patient autonomy, physical therapists must be diligent in providing proper instruction to patients to give them the tools they need to help themselves. Not only should patients know what to do, but why they do it. One way this is demonstrated is a physical therapists responsibility to educate patients with lymphedema of the various steps to take moving forwards. A 54 y/o man with chronic venous insufficiency presents with signs of lymphedema of the lower extremities. A physical therapist must inform the patient of the various exercises, positions, and manual self-caring behaviors to annex into daily life - in addition to educating the patient about why these interventions have been shown to exhibit decongestive properties onto the lymphatic system.

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As physical therapist we have the opportunity to educate our patients about how they can take control of their health. For example, in a private women's health clinic, a 38 year old female with a low activity level comes to you complaining of low back pain. This particular individual wants to incorporate a physical therapy program into their busy schedule as a stay at home mother to 2 young children. As the physical therapist you can be an educator in this situation by providing this individual with a program that is reasonable, so that it can be accomplished with ease with regard for the patient and their daily schedule. It will be crucial to educate the patient on goals of exercises, proper execution of exercises, how exercises can be modified, how exercises can sometimes be accomplished while multitasking with regular daily activities, and lastly emphasizing and educating the patient on the idea that doing the program on a regular basis will be the key to their success. As physical therapists we can give our patients the tools to take with them and hopefully create consistency in their lives that may lead to better overall health and wellbeing.

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Physical therapy not only involves providing treatment to a patient in a clinical setting, but also educating the patient as to how these treatments will improve function and why it is necessary to perform them outside of the clinic. For example, I see myself attending to a patient who has hurt his or her hand in a fall. Aside from treating the problem at hand and improving ROM and strengthening,  it is my job to also education the patient on how the lack of use of the affected arm could lead to issues at the elbow and shoulder. I would emphasize to the patient that although the affected hand isn't fully functional, they should still try to use that arm in order to not lose function at higher structures.

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As physical therapists we not only diagnose and treat patients, but also become their teachers in different situations. When I was a volunteer in the local hospital, I met a girl with cerebral palsy  in a wheelchair who came for physical therapy with her mother. At the beginning of the treatment she was not able to get up and sit on the bed by herself and she always needed somebody to assist her. She also had communication problems (most of the time she could not explain clearly what was going on with her and what she needed help with) as well that made her even more upset and frustrated. She had physical therapy three times a week. Each session stared with about 10 min walk around the gym followed by several strengthening exercises and ended with the physical therapist instructing and showing her how she could get up and sit on the bed on her own. Later in sessions the physical therapist also taught her on how to transfer to the wheelchair and back on her own and how to let others know that something was wrong or that she needed some help. And this is only the one of many situations where physical therapist plays a role of a mentor to her patient.
As movement specialist we teach our patients on how to do their exercises correctly, how to avoid situations that can traumatize them and the main thing – how to be independent.

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One of the ways I would implement patient education is to encourage my future patients to be more proactive in their treatment. I want them to know more about their condition, so that they will understand the treatment and the reasoning behind avoiding certain activities. For instance, I see myself working with a little league baseball player, who anteriorly dislocated his shoulder due to repetitive pitching for his baseball team. I would explain to him that he has to be patient during the early stages of his treatment and avoid doing full shoulder range of motion. I would especially stress to avoid external rotation because excessively doing so in combination with abduction will cause him to re-injure himself. This way he will be more mindful during his intervention and take that into account when he goes back into the field.

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As lifelong learners, PT's gain an opportunity to learn through educating patients of proper care of their bodies and etiology of their condition, and advising aspiring PT's such as volunteers and burgeoning SPT's to further their knowledge of the human body to be more effective in treating physical ailments. By teaching patients as well as aspiring physical therapists, it gives us an opportunity to learn from the teaching moment. For example, through teaching a patient with cerebellar disorder a progression of balance exercises, the feedback received of what exercises worked best for the patient may help the PT more effectively teach future patients

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One of a Physical therapist's most important and effective tools is patient education. After all, most patient progress occurs when the patient is away from the PT setting. I envision routinely educating my patients in a hospital setting about how to use their newly acquired assistive devices. For Example, my patient, a 29 year old weekend warrior who tore his Left ACL playing soccer, was told he had to use axillary crutches after his surgery. As his physical therapist, it is my responsibility to ensure that my patient knows how to ambulate with his crutches, the contraindications of not using them, and the differences in the percentages of weight bearing and non weight bearing before he leaves the hospital.

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Patients often come to a physical therapist before they undergo a surgery such as: rotator cuff repair, ACL repair, etc. As a physical therapist it is their job to educate their patient as to what will be occurring during the surgery and what motions will be appropriate to perform after the surgery is complete. This can also be a teaching moment for why the surgery is happening and making sure the patient understands any complications that could occur if they do too much after the surgery. For example: a 25 year old baseball player is undergoing a rotator cuff repair, it is the PT's job to explain to them what muscle is being repaired and how to properly apply/wear the sling that will help support the involved arm. Along, with this they would also explain exercises they could do post surgery. These could be isometric exercises and wrist exercises to ensure no blood clots occur.

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Patient education is one of the most crucial component of building patient rapport and trust, but also for his/her road to rehabilitation. Understanding why a PT is prescribing certain exercises will encourage the patient to take initiative in their recovery. In my example, I have an 67 year old female patient reporting of knee pain that has not been particularly fond of fitness, thus "simple" exercises such as a squat is difficult for her to perform. Patient education is important in this cause because we need to be able to explain to her that this exercise, if done correctly, will strengthen her thigh muscles so her knee does not have to work as much when she performs her daily activities. After learning about the importance of strengthen training, the patient will be more encouraged to do those exercises at home.

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As physical therapist, we not only aid in the rehabilitation process, but we also act a mentor in patient education. The situation in which I envision a physical therapist to be an educator is for a mid-age military veteran who underwent a below the knee amputation. The patient returned to the U.S. now having to wear a prosthetic limb. As a physical therapist in an inpatient setting, we focus on training the patient to relearn to walk and gain optimal mobility, as well as maximize comfort and function in order to send them home. In this specific scenario we must use our knowledge of musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, integumentary, and neurology physical therapy to fully educate our patient to regain their previous way of life. We can instruct the patient on how to function with a prosthesis by including a plan that encompasses strengthening, balance, and gait, in order for them to make their way to live and function independently. It is important to realize that along with being a firm educator, being an educator with compassion also plays a vital role in helping our patients to cope with their circumstances.

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Physical therapists have the responsibility to treat patients, and a major part of treating is educating or teaching the patients about their exercises. Patients should understand what they are doing, the reasons for the specific exercises, what to expect, and why they are unable to go into certain positions. For instance, if I was working with a female who just got a right posterolateral hip replacement, I would have to explain to the patient that they are unable to internally rotate, flex their hip past 90 degrees, and adduct their lower extremities. Of course, I would put that into layman's terms, such as toes should be pointing up at all times,  no bending further than an L (no tying shoes by yourself), and no crossing legs past midline. I would continue to tell them that if they do this soon-after surgery that they can reverse the effects of the surgery or disrupt the sutures, but that with time, they will be able to do all of these things in addition to so many more activities. However, they have to be careful. Education and understanding are important for patients to comply to exercises, trust the PT, and benefit tremendously from PT.

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As physical therapists it is our responsibility to educate both our patients and their caregivers. Pediatric PT’s with infant patients will need to educate the parents, grandparents, and additional caregivers. I imagine working with a 3 month old with torticollis. As the patient cannot speak, your primary concern is to educate the caregiver in the proper way to stretch the neck to increase ROM. As well as the correct positions for placing the baby in order to strengthen the neck muscles. It’s also imperative to educate the caregiver in the nature of the condition as well as developmental milestones. Parents can be anxious, so gaining trust and giving them a timeline for improvement as well as next steps will build trust and be a benefit to all involved.

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Physical therapists act as a key link for a patient in understanding their body and how it operates. One of the many ways we are able to do so is to educate them on the specific muscles that an exercise is targeting, how the correct exercise should feel and how it can improve function for the future. In my example, I have a 24 year old female who has had a history of hip pain resulting from exercising incorrectly and sitting eight hours a day due to a desk job coming into an outpatient clinic seeking help. In addition to prescribing her a list of exercises, I would need to ensure she understands where I think the exercises can help, how doing so will change her over all pain, and break down the exercise to the most basic steps so she can remember how to do it at home as well.

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When interacting with pediatric patients, as physical therapist, we must find alternative ways to communicate with both the patient and the parents. If a 5-year-old is being treated as a toe walker, we will have to use a more interactive mode of education in order to explain to the child, in a simplified language, what is required of him/her move forward. Even though he/she is a child, we still need to try and explain what is happening and what type of treatment will be done. In addition, as the child is guided by the parents, we must also give a thorough explanation to the parents regarding the treatment, outcome, and alternative pathways. This is done to have the parents further assist in the treatment at home, as well as reinforce concepts taught during the session. Such treatment might entail stretching, in addition to verbal and tactile cueing for the child to become more aware that he/she is toe walking. The differing ways in which both the child and parent must be talked to further reiterated the significant role physical therapists have as educators.

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Physical Therapists play a vital role in educating patients on safe and effective ways to perform many activities throughout their day. For patients with extreme cases, aid from supporting family members might also come into play, and including them in the teaching process is just as important. For example, for a 65 year old patient managing spasticity of their muscles that resulted from a spinal chord injury, I can imagine a Physical Therapist including family members or a spouse in the teaching of the safest way to complete a transfer from a bed to the floor or a bed to a wheelchair. Emphasizing the use of proper body mechanics, for both parties involved, will reduce the risk of injury and promote patient-centered care.

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We, as physical therapists, need to educate our patients on behalf of their safety, knowledge, and the trust that is needed to benefit them in improving their well-being and health. My example in educating them would be having a  patient be educated in the precautions needed for a specific exercise. I imagine myself working in a sub-acute rehab in a geriatric setting, where I tell a 70-year old grandmother to not shift most of her weight to a certain side when standing and looking straight up ahead. An example for that would be to not have the patient lean towards the right as much when the right side of her body is her affected side.

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Not only do Physical Therapists educate their patients when an injury has already occurred but to prevent future injuries as well.  For example, someone who is a construction worker needs to be educated on how to properly lift a heavy weight in order to avoid serious back injury. An office worker who has a desk job can be educated on how to prevent neck, shoulder and lower back pain caused by prolonged sitting with simple exercises and good posture.

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As physical therapists, one will not only have to teach their patients their exercise program or about their new diagnosis, but one day be a mentor to new PT's, students, and those aspiring to be a PT one day. For example, as a new PT, I may mentor aspiring PT's,like aides or volunteers, on the application process and other important facets to getting into PT school. Or in another scenario, as a more seasoned PT, I might mentor a PT fresh out of school on the basis of handling their patient load or what to see and expect when encountering patients with certain presentations.

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As a physical therapist it is very important to educate the patient in the proper way on how to perform certain treatments at home, such as stretching. I can see myself performing a gastroc-soleus stretch in a 50 year old patient due to tightness of the muscle group causing discomfort. I will first have to educate the patient on why I will be doing that stretch and the different ways they can do it at home correctly. It is important to educate them the right way so they do not worsen their issues.

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One of the main jobs of a physical therapist is to be an educator to their patients. It’s extremely important that a patient knows what their treatment entails and how to prevent further damage. I can see myself working with a 45-year-old patient suffering from adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder in an outpatient setting. It is my job to instruct them about activities that can worsen the pain and also how home exercises can help post-therapy.

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As a physical therapist it is imperative we educate our patients on their diagnosis and outcomes. Doing so ensures patients they understand what is required for successful treatment. I imagine a 45 year male old hiker walking into my clinic complaining of ankle pain. I would examine the patient for ROM and MMT. Depending on the extent of injury I would explain to him the nature of the injury and make sure he avoids any strenuous activity until his ankle pain is reduced and strength increases.

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A physical therapist must educate a patient in order to teach them about their newly diagnosis. This could help them learn about what movements to avoid doing to prevent exacerbations. For example, a 60 year old post-operative patient that underwent both hip replacement. Our job as the physical therapist/educator, we need to precisely explain the precautions. This can let the surgical procedure effectively do its job in recovering.

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Welcome to PHTH 3207 Principles of Education!

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Welcome to PHTH 3207 Principles of Education!

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As you may know, one of the most important roles a physical therapist plays is that of an educator. In a brief post, describe one of the many ways we must educate. Specify the "person", place, and circumstances that you envision YOU the (soon to be) PHYSICAL THERAPIST will need to use your skills as an educator. BE CREATIVE, SPECIFIC, CONCISE.

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Patient education is very important not only for patient safety but also to prevent future injuries. For instance, in my imaginary situation, there's a 58 years old female that came into the outpatient client with complained of lower back pain when lifting a box of items. She has a history of mild osteoporosis. While there’s no way to eliminate osteoporosis, the patient can prevent possible future injuries by teaching her the proper way to lift or by telling her to avoid heavy lifting. The back pain can also be due to her posture. It is better for the patient if she knows proper posed to reduce unnecessary stress to the body. The more the patient knows about her condition, the more mindful and aware she is about her condition.