Communicating with Patients — From Initial Assessment to Discharge

Abstract

The intervention process of the professions of occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy includes taking a client history, initiating assessment procedures, setting client-centred goals, providing treatment and evaluating the client’s progress. Of course, differences occur in the execution of the individual tasks required of the various professions. A client history, for example, will differ according to whether it was taken by an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist or a speech and language therapist. Since the aims of these three professions and their therapeutic interventions are different, the information needed for a meaningful and effective treatment plan differ as well.