News and Notes from The Johnson Center
Communicating with my Practitioner: Ways to Increase Successful Intervention in a Pediatric Setting
JCCHD | Fri, November 07, 2014 |Many people view a trip to the doctor’s office as a potentially stressful experience for the patient. While this may sometimes be true, it is important to recognize the potential stress for parents and caregivers. Parents may find the experience overwhelming, and, due to anxiety, they may forget to ask specific questions or fail to report significant information that could influence clinical recommendations. Below are some helpful tips that can aid both parents and practitioners in addressing these challenges and provide support to improve effective intervention.
Building a Rapport: Understanding the importance of the clinician-caregiver relationship is the first step. This is especially important in a pediatric setting where a parents’ report is the primary source of information. As a parent, it is essential to build a relationship with your team of clinicians in order to foster effective communication. From a clinicians’ perspective, this rapport is important in increasing successful intervention. Once trust is established, parents will feel supported and be more likely to implement recommendations. Rapport can also aid in future follow-up appointments. Parents may feel more confident scheduling follow-up appointments to discuss future recommendations or current concerns if they feel their practitioner is acknowledging their concerns.
Conveying Information: This is especially important for caregivers and parents to recognize. Even the smallest change or update can provide significant insight into how a patient is doing. Providing this information to your practitioner or clinical team is imperative. As practitioners, supporting honesty and open communication is the key to building accountability. Parents are more likely to report honestly if they do not feel ashamed or judged. Valuing that honesty can help bridge the gap in patient care.
Responsibility and Accountability: The more parents feel valued as active participants in the health care team, the more accountable they will feel in terms of implementing recommendations. If a rapport has been established, parents are more likely to discuss these changes with their practitioner as opposed to implementing treatment on their own. They may also feel a sense of responsibility toward their practitioner to implement recommendations or discuss any hesitations they may have.
It is important to address any questions and concerns to your health care team. Be honest, communicate effectively, build a rapport, and hold one another accountable in order to increase your chance of successful intervention.
