Health Literacy

I found Dr. Flick's presentation to be very interesting. What stood out to me the most about this presentation was how I've never thought about how many communication factors there are when it comes to what I thought was just a simple visit to the doctor. While meeting with the doctor can be stressful and intimidating, I had never thought about how the paperwork before the actual doctor visit can also be stressful and intimidating to many people. This can lead to patients being confused, scared, and discouraged before even visiting with the doctor.

This example can also be reciprocated in the Occupational Therapy profession. Being a client-centered profession, it is our responsibility to focus solely on the client. That not only means ensuring the utmost care, but also finding the best ways to communicate with our clients. Communication is essential in our field. As we discussed in earlier lectures, we need to build a therapeutic relationship with out client. A huge part of that relationship is building a foundation of trust so that our client feels encouraged to ask questions and to share information with us. Without communication, there is no trust, and without trust it will be nearly impossible to achieve the goals set out for our clients.