Wednesday, April 12, 2017

You Can Do It! (Your HEP That Is!)

We have a guest article written by Dr. Will Boyd, PT, DPT


I Don't Have Time
"I know I need to do my exercises. I just get busy."


Dr. Will Boyd, PT, DPT

I talk with dozens of physical therapists, chiropractors, and other health professionals on a weekly basis, and I hear some version of this sentence repeated over and over. People are busy. We all need reminders throughout the day to keep us accountable.

I spent some time this week thinking about home exercise compliance. Here are three potential ways to help keep your patients accountable when it comes to their home exercise program.




#1 - Why?
Finding out why your patient wants to recover is the biggest key in keeping them accountable. Pain is a symptom, not a reason. Is it to play with their grandchildren for longer periods of time? Is it to return to gardening? Establishing a patient's "why" is critical to helping a patient see the value in completing their HEP.




#2 - When?
Reminders, reminders, reminders. We live in a fast-paced world. Luckily the majority of our patients have a cell phone with the capacity to set reminders. Walk through setting up reminders with them. PT-Helper has built in reminders for your patients.




#3 - Celebrate
Nothing beats that feeling of being recognized for your hard work. Viewing patients' consistency of performing their HEP as an achievement, rather than an expectation, lights up that feel-good center of our brain. Take a moment to celebrate a patient's consistency and they'll likely want to repeat it!

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