Week 5 Day3

Really feel my interaction skills with indigenous patients has come on well since the start of placement. Aboriginals are over-represented (as far as a population goes) amongst amputees, which means I have dealt with a few aboriginal ladies over the past 5 weeks. Its really shown how helpful the lecture we had presented to us was. Today we had a new lady who has had a trans radial amputation who is from far outback WA. Over the past few weeks I've developed quite a rapport with some of these ladies, and it was interesting to see how I could develop a rapport from an inital assessment. It is important not rush straight into the assessment and try and make them as relaxed as possible. It was this lady's first time out of her ward, and it was clear she was somewhat disorientated. As far as subjective assessments go, it is helpful to try and take an interest in their history and interests/hobbies to try and engage them in the Ax. Often at shenton park, the physio will show an aboriginal patient a map of WA and get them to show where they are from. This lets the patient know that we are interested, and it lets them feel a bit more at ease with us. Today, HJ and I got along well ( I think), but eye contact was fairly minimal but this is common amongst indigneous people (as we know from the lecture). The techniques I employed today worked well in my opinion, as I think HJ and I developed a good rapport, her sense of discomfort eased as the session grew on and she performed the exercises I gave her with good compliance.