Communication and interpersonal Helping Skills: An Essential Component in Physiotherapy Education?

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Allied Health Sciences
• Communication Skills Training

Background:

• Physiotherapy education requires strong communication and interpersonal helping skills.
• Existing curricula may not adequately integrate general counseling models with specific clinical interviewing techniques.
• There is a need for evidence-based programs to enhance these essential skills in future physiotherapists.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the rationale and content of an interdisciplinary communication and interpersonal helping skills program for third-year physiotherapy students.
• To evaluate the effectiveness and student reception of the integrated program.
• To identify areas for future program development.

Main Methods:

• A program was developed integrating a general counseling model with physiotherapy-specific interviewing and clinical skills.
• A program evaluation involved 97 third-year physiotherapy students.
• Evaluation methods included student representative meetings and student feedback forms, alongside a pre- and post-test design to assess outcome priorities.

Main Results:

• The program received overall positive results, indicating student support for its rationale and content.
• The pre- and post-test design provided insights into student priorities and performance ratings.
• Feedback highlighted the program's effectiveness in enhancing communication and interpersonal skills relevant to physiotherapy practice.

Conclusions:

• The interdisciplinary communication and interpersonal helping skills program is well-supported by physiotherapy students.
• The integrated approach effectively bridges general counseling principles with specific clinical needs in physiotherapy.
• Further development should consider refining outcome measures to focus on specific behaviors alongside performance ratings.