I have been a Physiotherapist for approximately 28 years and fortunately, I learned a lesson very early on in my career that has shaped the way that I approach working with clients since that time.
I remember it quite well – one day I was working with a patient in the Clinic and was explaining to them about their injury and how I would be treating it when they asked me the simple question “so I have a muscle there in my forearm, do I?”
What? My initial thought was how could they not know this but it was a tremendous lesson in the importance of not assuming that people understand their bodies or how they can best look after them. I had been to University for 4 years to learn about anatomy, physiology, and function, and like a lot of graduating health and medical professionals, I probably assumed that people just knew even the simplest things about their bodies. But clearly that is not the case, and in my opinion to assume so meant that I was likely to deliver a sub-optimal service to my clients. Or, at the very least achieve a lesser outcome than would be possible if I ensured that they had a better understanding of their body, how it functioned, and why my treatment and exercise recommendations were important to their long-term health.
With this in mind I now carry through the approach that education of my clients is imperative to delivering the best possible service to them. I spend time ensuring that they are educated in the ways of the body to a sufficient level of knowledge that allows them to make informed decisions about how they will look after themselves and results in greater compliance with the recommendations that I make.
Each of my Ergonomic Assessments is underpinned by an education session on the relevant anatomy, mechanism of injury, and strategies to look after the body when completing work duties in an office-based setting, whether that be a formal workplace or home office. I offer my clients the chance to ask specific questions about their body and any injuries that they may be trying to manage and provide information to assist them to achieve a better outcome.
I also take great joy in delivering small group training sessions to cover similar information. These give an opportunity for a deeper dive into the rationale behind the ergonomic recommendations that I make, including guidance in relation to safe body positioning and manual task performance. I love to make these sessions interactive and try to keep them light and free from jargon to ensure that the advice is simple to understand and the strategies are easy to implement.
If you would like to find out more about the ways that Ergo Experts can assist your staff, whether it be small-group education sessions or one-on-one ergonomic assessments, please reach out to me via mobile phone (0409 512 434) or email – info@ergoexperts.com.au.