As a physio there is not much worse than patient’s not doing their rehab.

You give your patient the exercises to help them get better…

But for whatever reason they don’t do them.

Maybe it’s a lack of time…

Or they forgot what you told them to do…

But whatever it is, you know that if they don’t start buying in to the rehab plan, then they are not going to improve.

And these type of patients are always the same patients that start questioning you why they are not getting better after the first few sessions!

Doing your hands-on treatment techniques on a patient can help reduce pain and improve range of movement, sometimes even improve strength, but it is the rehab that fixes the problem 9/10 and stops the problem coming back.

Maybe you label your patients ‘lazy’ and question if they actually want to get better.

After all, if they did surely they would do their rehab exercises like you asked.

But in most cases the reason patients do not do their rehab is not their fault…

But your fault!

By fault I mean that you have not done some simple, but vitally important things that are imperative to help your patient understand why you want them to do the specific rehab you have prescribed.

It’s human nature not to do something if you don’t understand why.

In the physio world we do exactly the same.

We call it clinical reasoning, with this being the ability to justify the tests, treatments and rehab you do as part of your assessments, treatments and rehab. 

You don’t just make things us and do random tests or prescribe random exercises with your patients.

You reason what tests and exercises your patients needs based on how they present.

The important thing to remember is…

You can design the best rehab plan in the world, but if your patient does not do it then they will not get better.

You have to set rehab expectations early and be able to explain a clear treatment plan to your patient. 

This is imperative to keep your patient motivated and to stay on board with their rehab.

If you can not do the you will continue to do that hard work in the clinic only for patients to go away and not do what you have asked of them.

And it is always these types of patients that do not get better and if you’ve lost them early and they are not following what you are asking them to do, it is almost impossible to get them back on track.

I’ve put together a short video that will show you 3 ways to get your patient to buy in to your rehab plan…

3 Ways To Better Patient Buy In

In this video you will discover some simple strategies to get (and keep) your patients on track with their rehab, even as a young and inexperienced therapist.

You can find this out here.

Andy

The New Grad Physio Mentor

PS. Want to get more detailed information like this on how to better assess, treat and rehabilitate the patients you work with?

Then click here to see if you might qualify for a place in my membership.

The membership is not for everyone so if you are not committed to becoming a better therapist and cannot commit 20-30 mins of CPD time per week, please do not apply.

But if you can and really want to fast-track your skills, knowledge and your new grad career then hit the link above to find out more.