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Communication and Clinical Effectiveness in Rehabilitation

	Introduction

Although this text applies to all rehabilitation disciplines, the author has succeeded in addressing 2 very important considerations in the practice of physical therapy: (1) the importance of effective communication and (2) the research evidence to support her claims concerning the importance of communication.

The author’s background is perfect for writing a text about effective communication. Reynolds teaches in the areas of health and social psychology in occupational therapy and nursing programs and has several publications in the area of chronic illness and quality of life. She also developed an interest in interpretive phenomenological analysis, which is the study of the ways we experience things such as the spoken and written word and the meanings we draw from them.

This text is very well organized, and the 10 individual chapters maintain a very consistent style and format throughout. Each chapter contains a detailed case study of patients with chronic health conditions. These case studies serve double duty. First, Reynolds directs the research evidence to individual cases. Second, the author uses the cases to give the reader an opportunity to participate in reflective exercises to reinforce the points made in the text.

In an early chapter, Reynolds outlines her approach to learning about communication and improving communication skills. I feel compelled to list them below because they are so important to successful patient practice. She states that a practitioner should:

• Increase one’s sensitivity to a patient’s communication needs;
  
• Consider theoretical models of skillful communication;
  
• Consider the evidence about the skills and strategies that increase communication effectiveness;
  
• Practice reflective awareness of personal communication skills.
  

The remaining 9 chapters discuss why each of these items is important and present research to support each claim. This text covers areas such as understanding patients’ experiences of ill health and health care, understanding patients’ communication needs in health care settings, realizing what makes up skillful and effective communication, and the benefits of patient empowerment.

The text addresses the implications and importance of communication in regard to several pathological conditions, including arthritis, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. Reynolds skillfully integrates the case studies into her discussions of these pathologies. Throughout the text, the author asks provocative questions related to the case study, gives the reader an opportunity to reflect on possible responses, and then usually offers an opinion of her own. This text also is heavily referenced.

Reynolds discusses effective communication in terms that physical therapists are now familiar with—culture, gender, disability, caregivers and family, and peers—which makes this text a pleasure to read. Having said that, I do not recommend this book for casual vacation reading. However, this text could serve as a supplemental text in an academic curriculum in which therapeutic communication is emphasized, or as a general reference for a physical therapist in practice.

Joe Lucca

University of Delaware
Newark, Del

	Footnotes

 
Dr Lucca is Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. He teaches classes on physical therapy as a profession, research methods, psychosocial development, geriatrics, and life span development and is in private practice.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lucca, J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Lucca, J.