Christine Saunders

The Case for Counselling in Physiotherapy

Summary Physiotherapists are from time to time called upon to adopt a counselling role when treating patients who are experiencing emotional as well-as physical problems. This article describes and evaluates a micro-counselling approach as a means of training therapists to handle the emotional as well as the physical difficulties which patients display. In addition, it examines one technique, namely that of ‘reflecting’ which is a key skill in the role of counselling.

An evaluation of communication skills training for physiotherapy students

This evaluation study concerned the modules of communication skills training in the second, third and fourth years of an undergraduate programme of study in an honours degree course in physiotherapy. Questionnaires were administered to the students to ascertain their attitudes to the training programme. Lecturers in physiotherapy who were not involved in the training programme were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the importance of this communication skills training. The results show a positive attitude towards the skills training, and the important relationship with good clinical practice was emphasized.

An Empirical Approach to the Identification of Teaching Skills in Higher Education

From the late 1980s there have been consistent calls from government for universities to institute procedures by which the quality of their teaching function might be appraised. The objectives of the present research was to contribute to knowledge in this field by investigating the identification of teaching skills in the perception and experience of those who are regarded as experts in university teaching

Using Role-play with Physiotherapy Students: Part 1: Background and Rationale

Summary This is the first part of an article on role-play as an instructional medium of relevance to physiotherapy education. As such, it provides a broad background to the technique which is then extended in a more practical and applied way in the second part. More specifically, part 1 locates role-play within the context of experiential learning and the enhancement of the interpersonal competence of students. The concept of role is examined together with the origins of role-play. A rationale is developed for its utilisation in the preparation of physiotherapists by outlining a range of appropriate educational objectives. These have implications for the selection of role-play procedures to implement and some of the major variants of the technique are accordingly described and evaluated.

The Effects of Video Feedback on Students’ Evaluations of Self

Abstract Self‐viewing is one of the most anxiety provoking features of social skills training (SST), and a facet of training about which comparatively little is known. In general terms, the major purpose of this study was to make a contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the self‐viewing process. In specific terms, the aim was to map out empirically the type and range of self‐evaluative comments made by students following a period of self‐viewing on Closed Circuit Television. A content analysis schemata was devised to classify free‐ranging statements collected from the subjects by means of self‐evaluation reports. Results showed that students significantly increased the number of positive and decreased the number of negative and internal statements following SST. No differences emerged between males and females in self‐statement responses.

Personality and Attitude to Microtraining: a correlational study

Summary This study is concerned with an examination of the relationship between student attitude to microtraining, as a form of communication skills training, and personality as measured by Cattells 16PF. In addition, the extent to which the influence of age, gender and type of course studied will differentially affect student attitude is also explored. The results indicated that students displaying high levels of anxiety reacted significantly more negatively to microtraining, as did students displaying high levels of emotionality. No significant differences emerged in relation to age, gender or type of course studied. These findings are discussed in relation to strategies which might be employed to reduce the anxiety‐provoking effects of microtraining.