Episode 1: What do our patients need from clinicians, when they are starting their rehab with the Bobath Concept? And how does the Model of Bobath Clinical Practice structure this?
- Clare Fraser
- 7 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Written by Clare Fraser (BBTA Tutor)
We all know that it is never easy to create a change in our lives, and strike out in search of something different, something new. Gathering the will power and positive mental attitude is quite tricky, but even trickier when you already feel ‘down on yourself’ and you are the new patient arriving at a physiotherapy clinic.
So what do they need from the professional Bobath physiotherapist that they meet, who takes them through their initial assessment? They need someone who can get under their skin, who can ‘know’ and understand their movement and function issues deeply, and transform that into a clear, clinically reasoned, movement diagnosis and hypothesis. And then to deliver the treatment that will start to take them forwards, step by step, one foot in front of the other, dealing with their impairments, guiding them through it, and making it happen.
When we assess a new patient at the clinic, we listen to their description of their difficulties and start our clinical reasoning from the very beginning. We listen out for the ‘critical cues’ that the patient shares about their every day life and we start to develop our clinical hypotheses
For example we might be working out; why is coming down the stairs more difficult than going up for them? How does that problem link to the difficulty getting their heel down when they walk? Why does their arm stiffen up when they stand up from a chair? Can they be less heavy through their stick? and when they are less heavy does their shoulder pain reduce? Why are those things linked together?
It is detective work, digging deep into the problem, understanding what they are telling us, and looking at that through the lens of the neuroscience, and neurophysiology. Knowing how the body works, how it moves from various postures, and how we function through movement control as human beings, gives the physiotherapist the background ‘blue print’ that we can compare our patients problems against. And then, with the clear idea of what the problem is, and why it is there based on the science, and what more ‘efficient’ movement control would look like – we can begin.
The Bobath physiotherapist or occupational therapist can then understand what the patients potential for change might be, how to tap into that potential to change, and how to formulate the treatment programme that will allow them to achieve that change as best as possible.
And so then the ‘new’ recovery journey can begin for the patient.
Using the Model of Bobath Clinical Practice gives the therapist a structure to work through as they analyse their patient, and helps to take them through the clinical reasoning process. Using this model takes therapists step by step towards a clear idea of their patients impairments, to then formulate a movement diagnosis, and understand the patients potential to change, and from that to develope their first clinical hypotheses.
And so now; lets get working on making it happen….
If you want to explore your potential as a physiotherapist or occupational therapist to be better at treating your patients than you are right now, why not look at the BBTA website and sign up for a Basic Bobath Course to develop your clinical reasoning and hands-on treatment skills?
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