Have to love them, but at the moment, a family member of a patient on my placement is making our sessions with her elderly mother somewhat trying. I noted this week that at times it can be helpful to have a motivating factor like a family member pop into the exercise sessions. On the other hand, this particular daughter, watching in on her elderly mother seriously crowded the patient and us, confused the patient, and simply made the session more difficult. With the two of us physio students trying to direct the patient (who has severe dementia), and the daughter constantly "contributing", it made for a frustrating couple of sessions. We've now considered timing our sessions with her mother when she is on her her own - hard to manage as family drop in anytime. Anyhow, the biggest thing I noted from these sessions was having three people talking to the patient was overwhelming and confusing her. I adapted my treatment by toning my voice down drastically and really honing in on her directly. The noise level rose (other sessions being conducted in the same small physio area), so I tried to cut through the noise - and ilicit a direct response from the patient. This change, along with clear, simple and precise directions helped with this patient - not having her daughter there will also seriously benefit the patient. See how we go next week.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment