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.
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.
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.
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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