January 31, 2007
Response to Homecare Motivation - Mallory Sherwood (1/31/07)
This article was filled with a bundle of valuable information. One idea that stuck out to me the most was when they mentioned self-direction. It seems like the simplest thing to ask a patient, yet I find myself forgetting to word my questions like this. It is easy to just get into a routine of just spouting off textbook descriptions. These type of questions make the patient tell you what is wrong or what is going great, and in that sense - it will make them realize what is going wrong and what needs more work. So, I feel this is one topic that will be very useful to me if I keep reminding myself to ask these directed questions.
Another point was the idea of assessing each patient and how open they might be. Each patient is different and are going to respond differently to criticism or help. Just knowing and remembering that you shouldn't treat each patient the exact same is something to keep in mind. And this kind of ties in with my first point. Getting their side of the story and what they believe is going on will make them realize what needs to happen and maybe make them for open for suggestions that you may have for them. Without that, it might just seem like another nagging lecture.
Posted by maldawn at 05:51 PM | Comments (4)
Incorporating Motivation Techniques in Patient Education: Diane Murray 1-31-07
I think the idea of partnership with our patients is very important. We need to help our patients to accomplish their oral health goals rather than simply giving them goals WE want them to reach. I imagine however, that this becomes more difficult with patients who have little self-motivation and are uninterested/concerned with their oral hygiene. In those instances, I believe we have to express our own concerns and then be an encouragement, hoping they'll join in and share the responsibility.
I liked the idea about consulting the patient first about their concerns and questioning them about what outcomes they'd like to see from their oral health care. If they have a special concern and you can help to provide some ideas about how to address that concern, you can work TOGETHER to see great progress.
Also, the idea about displaying or providing a variety of care products, and allowing them to observe and choose what works best for them is an excellent idea. It seems more appropriate that they pick what they like, rather than you "assigning" them a product. Once they have taken home a few samples and tried them out... you can then ask them what they preferred and how things worked for them. You can have them demonstrate their use of the product, and then assist them in "fine tuning" their methods, if necessary.
These all seem like great suggestions that we, as dental hygiene students, can implement into our patient education techniques.
Posted by dfazio at 05:13 PM | Comments (3)
Home Care Motivation
Two key points in the article "Firing up patients' homecare motivation" were, promoting self-direction and letting the patient explore and choose. By promoting self-direction, this will be able to assist in the appointment by seeing what the patient feels is important to their oral hygiene. They will be able to identify what they think are some main areas of improvement and then I would be able to expand on their ideas and suggest further goals. By letting the patient choose and explore, this gives them the option to pick which device they would like to use over others. This customizes the appointment and allows the patient to have control over what they think is "needed" to increase their oral health. By doing this, this will hopefully increase the use of the devices and education of oral health.
Posted by muhlig at 12:18 PM | Comments (2)
January 30, 2007
Welcome
My intention with this blog is to provide a means of communication on a variety of issues related to clinic. Your course assignments will be posted on this blog. More information to come.
Posted by poissant at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)