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SPECIAL REPORT
Physiotherapist Intraprofessional Collaborative Practice Why respect and communication between sports physios benefits our patients and promotes our profession. Emma Lattey and Vijay Vallabh A therapeutic alliance is defined
as a sense of collaboration, warmth, and support between medical professionals and their patients, and our ultimate goal as sports physiotherapists is to help provide the best possible outcome for our patients. Effective teamwork and collaboration between health care professionals and amongst physiotherapists contributes to the following: (1) (2) (3)
optimizes health-services strengthens health systems improves health outcomes.
So, are we doing enough as sports physiotherapists in New Zealand to communicate with, promote, and respect others in our own profession?
grad or a seasoned professional it is worth another read – you’ll find a copy of it here :https://sportsphysiotherapy.org.nz/ sportsphysiotherapy.org.nz/documents/SportsPhysiotherapy-Code-of-Conduct_v-Dec-2013.pdf Most relevant to this article is section nine which is titled “Effective relationships” and it has three very valid points. A sports physiotherapist will:
i. Maintain effective, collaborative and professional relationships with other medical/ healthcare professionals (including physiotherapists, sports physicians, sports doctors, GP’s) involved in the patient’s care. ii. Maintain respectful relationships and behave in a professional manner with non- medical/health care personnel (including coaches, managers, support and administration staff, match officials etc.). iii. Not undermine relationships between another sports health care provider and their patient.
Let’s start by referring back to our Sports Physio Code of Conduct 2013, and whether you are a new
In the real world, communication between physiotherapists is not always easy as we are time poor. One thing we are notoriously unreliable at doing is providing appropriate patient information, or a handover, especially when athletes return to their home environment or club/team for follow-on attention from their regular treatment providers. Because we don’t get paid for our time when doing a CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE >>
