Keeping patients engaged in their care can help with patient compliance, leading to better outcomes of care. So what are ways that we can keep them engaged during treatments and when not in our direct care?
Some ways that are successful include: 1) finding out what they are passionate about and helping them to stay active with that activity during recovery. Even if it’s only in small increments. 2) doing our best to keep the atmosphere in the clinic light and welcoming; doing this through fun activities. 3) different conversational techniques, including humor with the appropriate patient population. 4) making the treatment sessions as competitive as the patient is (i.e. If the patient is super competitive in nature then we focus on the scores and how the scores they achieve compare to other scores we’ve seen on the same activities. And if the patient isn’t very competitive, we keep it about how they are feeling with the activities and not the scores as their standard for progress.) Patient engagement is important in keeping them compliant with their care, and giving them the steering wheel in their recovery process.
These are just a few examples. What are ways that you utilize to keep your patients engaged?