Body Communication is a Continuous Process: The First Encounter between Patient and Physiotherapist

Abstract

First encounters between patients and physiotherapists have been video-taped and analysed as part of a research project encompassing manual, psychomotor, and district physiotherapists. The main focus in this article is on body communication. The common features and differences between the patterns of communication established by the three categories of therapists are described and compared.

Since human beings function and relate to each other as physical subjects, messages of interest and involvement will in some way be conveyed through their bodies. The recognition of this fact means that body communication is a central aspect of patient-centredness. The relationship, context, and actual basis of cooperation can only be understood by analysing the way in which professionals relate to their patients through their bodies. This is because body messages are conveyed continuously in any encounter between two people, while verbal communication is discontinuous.

Key Words:

• body communication
• physiotherapy
• patient-centredness
• first encounters