Respect is key in both understanding patients and in developing solid, long-term relationships with them. Demonstrating respect for each individual's depth of knowledge (or lack thereof) about their health, opinions, attitude toward chiropractic and personal health goals is essential. Talking down to a patient who shows little interest in losing the weight or engaging in the regular exercise program that you know would make them feel better is not the way to influence. Instead, meet patients where they are and respect what they are willing to do now. As you gain trust and develop a relationship, you'll be in a better position to positively influence patients over time.

Doing

The ability to ask meaningful questions, listen without judgment and help individuals visualize a better future for themselves are all key to getting inside the minds of patients. In a perfect world, you'd question a patient about what they want and how motivated they are toward achieving better health and then listen quietly while they gave you a simple, straightforward answer that would determine your course of action. The problem is that patients are complex. They arrive at your office with unique challenges, perspectives, biases and varying degrees of readiness for change, all of which impact the doctor-patient relationship and clinical outcomes. Uncovering what's behind a patient's thinking and feeling is critical to understanding their true motivation, and this level of discovery requires deep questioning. Ask open-ended (not leading) questions and take the time to ask follow-up questions whenever you think there is more information that could be conveyed. Don't overlook simple statements like "Tell me more about that" and "How so?" to draw patients out.

We all like to think we're good listeners but, in truth, most of us have to work hard on our listening skills. Because you are educated and experienced in your field, it's easy to think that you already know what a patient is going to say and, as a consequence, miss a key point that might lead you to the best course of action and to understanding their level of motivation. Being a good listener, in many ways, goes back to being curious. If you approach each patient anticipating that this time, you'll hear something new or different in the story, you'll be more apt to pay close attention.

Don't rush the conversation portion of the patient encounter in an effort to move into treatment mode. Those last two or three questions may be the ones that uncover what's really going on, reveal a patient's beliefs about chiropractic or give you insight that will help you establish a long-term relationship.

Working with individuals to help them craft positive future visions for themselves is an excellent conduit for deeper understanding. Ask patients to envision and verbalize what it would be like to be free of pain, better able to move around, count on their back, or feel more energetic. Then probe further about what such a change might mean. Would they be able to hike again? Play with their children more actively? Enjoy gardening? Get patients talking about what it would be like to feel better and you'll be in a position to influence and motivate them.

Putting Your Influence to Good Use

For all of the advances that have been made in health care in recent years and the vast array of the information that is available to patients, the population does not seem to be getting any healthier. As a chiropractor, you are in an excellent position to influence patients to take better care of themselves. Embrace the concept of influence over persuasion and use the suggestions in this article to understand your patients on a deeper level. The end result will be good clinical outcomes for individual patients, the knowledge that you are contributing to improving public health, and a practice that will grow organically because you've taken the time to fully engage with your patients.

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Click here for previous articles by Shelley Simon, RN, DC, MPH, EdD.