![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Listening-300x169.jpg\")
The more we know about our patients, the better OTs we can expect to be, right? So how can we teach our patients to be better communicators? Wait, we can\u2019t control that, but we can learn to be better listeners using a couple of simple techniques.<\/p>\n
Enjoy!<\/p>\n
Cheryl Hall OT,
\nAuthor and Illustrator, Occupational Therapy Toolkit<\/p>\n
Practice Mindfulness<\/strong> Stop Multi-tasking<\/strong> Control Body Language<\/strong> Be Open Minded<\/strong> Ask Questions<\/strong> Rephrase<\/strong> By deliberately incorporating these suggestions, better listening will become a great new habit and will help you be a more effective OT!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The more we know about our patients, the better OTs we can expect to be, right? So how can we teach our patients to be better communicators? Wait, we can\u2019t control that, but we can learn to be better listeners using a couple of simple techniques. Enjoy! Cheryl Hall OT,…<\/p>\n Read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Listening.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7146"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7151,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7146\/revisions\/7151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDuring your time with your patient, carve out time when all you are doing is listening. Borrowing from yoga, center yourself, take a couple of deliberate deep breathes and focus your attention on the information that you are about to receive. Don\u2019t judge, don\u2019t problem solve, don\u2019t let your mind wander. Instead be perfectly present and mindful of what your patient is saying to you.<\/p>\n
\nOf course, we all think that we are marvelous, or at least should be marvelous, at multitasking. In fact, researchers have confirmed that mono tasking is actually more productive. So\u2026.no notes no chart, no tablet, no supplies, and no phone. Your patient is the only task that you are attending to in this moment. This singular focus supports the first tip – being mindful of your patient and why you are with them.<\/p>\n
\nOkay, you are mindful of being a good listener and you are singularly focused on that task; now, don\u2019t let your body forget to follow. Just like the first two tips, make a deliberate effort to present open and welcoming body language.<\/p>\n\n
\nYou have read the chart, you know the patient\u2019s diagnosis and you even have some interventions in mind; however, try to leave those assumptions at the door and be open minded when you listen to your patient. By deliberately adopting an open mind set you might learn something else that is important to your patient.<\/p>\n
\nCuriosity is a universal and wonderful quality among occupational therapists. So now ask some open ended questions, give your patient time to answer, and listen carefully. Be sure the questions are open ended so you don\u2019t end up with a series of \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d answers. Always wait until the patient has stopped talking to ask your next question.<\/p>\n
\nNow that you have really listened to your patient, communicate your plan by incorporating the patient\u2019s own words into your recommendations. For example: \u201cSince, Mr. Smith, you want to be able to walk up your front steps when you go home next week, we are going to work on safely navigating steps with your walker.\u201d<\/p>\n