Guide:
Communication

What are effective communication and active listening techniques?

Active listening involves techniques such as giving someone your full attention, showing understanding through body language and verbal acknowledgments, providing feedback by paraphrasing, asking clarifying questions, and responding empathetically and without judgment. Practicing these techniques helps ensure effective and meaningful communication.

The Communication Standard expects physiotherapists to communicate in a timely manner in order to support safe, effective, and patient-centered care.

What is considered “timely” will depend on the circumstances, including factors such as:

• The nature and urgency of the treatment or issue
• The risks to the patient if communication is delayed
• The patient’s needs and expectations
• The complexity of the information being communicated

For example, to obtain informed consent, communication must occur before beginning the treatment. If you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, communication must happen as soon as you know the appointment won’t be able to proceed as scheduled.

The objective is to ensure communication occurs within a realistic and appropriate timeframe so patient care and decision-making are not negatively affected.

If you encounter communication barriers, here are some tips you can follow:

• Use clear, simple language that is easily understood and repeat important information as needed.
• Be respectful and remain calm and patient.
• Communicate one thing at a time using short sentences and don’t rush.
• Ask for clarification as needed and avoid making assumptions.
• Frequently check in with the patient or caregiver, don’t just assume that the person has understood.
• Consider hiring a trained interpreter for significant language barriers, including if the patient would prefer to communicate in sign language. You must use your professional judgement to determine whether it is appropriate to use a patient’s family or friends as interpreters, only doing so when it’s in the patient’s best interests and with the patient’s agreement.

Culturally sensitive communication means adapting how you communicate to respect and respond to each patient’s unique background, values, and needs. Think of culture beyond race, ethnicity or language. It can also include factors like gender, age, religion, socio-economic status, abilities and disabilities, and more. These cultural influences can shape health and perspective on health.

Culturally sensitive communication includes, but is not limited to:

• Asking open-ended questions to understand your patient’s beliefs, preferences, and expectations around care.
• Avoiding assumptions about values or health practices based on appearance or background.
• Tailoring your communication style to align with patient preferences, such as using language, explanations, or terminology that the patient understands and feels comfortable with.
• Being aware of potential barriers, such as religious considerations for example, and addressing them as proactively as possible.

By learning about your patient and adjusting your communication approach accordingly, you can build trust, improve understanding, and better support informed decision-making.

The College has developed a set of resources related to social media use. These include questions to ask yourself before posting on social media and factors that may be considered if concerns about a physiotherapist’s social media use are raised to the College. There is also a Social Media Checklist and Social Media Scenarios for additional guidance. All of the resources can be found on the Social Media Principles for Physiotherapists page of the College’s website.

One of the expectations in the Communication Standard is that you “document all communications accurately, clearly, professionally, and in a timely manner.”

In the patient’s record you must include any communication, whether by phone, email, text message, or direct message (DM), that is relevant to their condition or the care you provide.

For example, you do not need to document a DM asking about your clinic hours. However, you should document if a patient messages to say their knee feels better after an appointment as it reflects a change in symptoms and relates directly to their care.