Tips for Your Therapy Session

Don't forget to start at the beginning. Always work to build rapport with both the patient and the family but realize that you should:

• Introduce yourself at every session.

• Don't stress the person by asking if they remember you or what you showed them.

• Ask the caregiver to be a part of the therapy whenever possible.

Educate constantly. Knowledge is power.

Get to know the person.  You must have a good understanding of their life history and prior interests so that you can choose effective person-centered interventions. What type of work did they do? Hobbies? Music preferences? All of this will help you better understand your patient and make informed choices for the treatment interventions.

Be prepared.   Know what the goals are from the initial evaluation and the problem area(s) that have been identified as priorities for the caregiver.

Be flexible.  You may go in with a plan to work on dressing and be met with resistance. That's okay. Try something different for this session. Each session is an opportunity to help engage the patient and educate the caregiver as to what works and what did not. Don't argue. You want both the patient and the care partner on your side. Instead of "let's practice dressing" you can say "so and so is coming over today, let's get ready for their visit so we look nice". Not interested in UE exercises? Do something fun or functional that will achieve the same goal.

Roleplay is a great teaching tool Work with the caregiver where you and the caregiver take turns playing the role of patient and caregiver. Educate in techniques and play the scene again.

Let's rock this.