Professor Peter O’Sullivan, Dr Leo Ng and Peter Edwards have teamed up to create an excellent resource for learning how to communicate with patients struggling with low back pain. The learning resource, which is video and quiz based and available to everyone, takes you through 8 themed discussions asking you if the conversations was helpful or unhelpful for the patient.
The themes are all centered around common mistakes clinicians make when talking to people struggling with LBP;
- Disc Degeneration
- Lifting Objects
- Running & Pain
- “The Pain is All in Your Head”
- Back Crack & Manipulation
- X-ray & MRI
- Pain Medication
- Posture
The quiz was created to not only assist in the understanding of which messages are helpful or unhelpful for patients with LBP but also to highlight the importance of communication style.
As you make your way through each theme you are presented with videos and advice statements which you then mark as helpful or unhelpful. Once submitted the rationale for each answer appears along with a second video showing the opposite of the first video. This allows you to understand what both good and bad conversations sound like – effectively giving you something to compare enhancing the learning opportunity.