Professional Health Competency

This document discusses the professional health competency in the context of a case study of a 70-year-old patient with a stroke. It includes a description of the case, justification for intervention, identification of another health professional in the team, specification of professional characteristics, and a person-centered strategy. The document also provides references for further reading.

Running Head: Professional Health Competency
PROFESSIONAL HEALTH COMPETENCY

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Professional Health Competency
Table of Contents
Section 1: Case description........................................................................................................3
Section 2: Describing and justifying intervention......................................................................4
Section 3: Identifying and describing another health professional in team...............................5
Section 4: Specifying professional characteristics.....................................................................6
Section 5: Describing and justifying person-centered strategy..................................................7
Reference list..............................................................................................................................8

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Professional Health Competency
Section 1: Case description
David Smith is 70 years old a person, who has admitted in the hospital with a stroke. This
patient has been provided with immediate medical support. ICF framework is being
considered to describe this case.
Body function and structure: Blood pressure of this patient was high at the time of
admission. Medical support has been provided for controlling his blood pressure level. He
has mentioned about pain in back and neck (ICF code: b28010).
Activities and participation: David is able to talk and he is mentioning all the health issues
faced by him. According to Seguel et al. (2017), this approach is helpful in providing medical
care to him. At present, he has no restriction in daily activities. David loves to read books
throughout the day and he is able to go to the toilet with the help of caregivers (ICF code:
d530).
Environmental factors: Advance machines are being used to provide medical support to
David. Healthcare professionals such as nurses and doctors are showing a positive attitude to
this patient. His wife and son are visiting regularly and he is enjoying their company (ICF
Code: e110, e310, e115).
Personal factors: Age is 70, gender is Male and David has no previous record of stroke.

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Figure 1: ICF framework
Section 2: Describing and justifying intervention
As a health professional, physical therapy can be given, which can help Mr. David to restore
his impaired function. As stated by Cruz et al. (2015), physical therapists help in restoring
body functions and increase the mobility of a patient. In addition, the limitation of permanent
disabilities can be achieved by regular physical therapy. Main role of me is this case is to
restore and maintain overall fitness and health of the patient.
Physical therapy is an intervention that can be applied to Mr. David and is described through
the ICF framework.
Body function and structure: he is suffering from intense head and neck pain that can be
relieved through application of firm pressure on the forehead and back of the neck. Moreover,
application of cold therapy can also be used for curing this problem that occurred due to
stroke. As stated by Brooker & Latham (2015), the therapy of a cold application decreased
flow of blood and reduces the number of blood spasm. In addition, it removes any
inflammation and helps in achieving relief from pain.
Activities and participation: Regular stretching of legs and limbs can help the care receiver
to improve his mobility. At present, while going to the toilet he needs the support of
caregivers. This has happened due to stroke and his confidence is also low due to the intense
pain of limbs, neck and other parts. Stiffness has occurred in knee and other joints that
impacted his mobility. As mentioned by Eaton, Roberts & Turner (2015), intervention of
physical therapy can help to improve mobility and motion of a person. Hence, he can regain
his physical independence.
Environmental factors: different advanced technologies and machines can be used like
ultrasound therapy machine and process of electrotherapy can be applied.

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Professional Health Competency
Different risks are involved during the process of physical therapy intervention. However,
stretching and exercise injury is the most significant. This risk factor can be minimized
through proper observation of the patient. Clear communication can be done to achieve
proper knowledge about the patient's condition (Martin et al. 2015). In addition, thorough
documentation is another solution to this risk. Documentation of information gained from
other caregivers, families, and patients need to be noted down in a proper format. A regular
record of progress can help to determine the length of physical therapy process and
procedures.
Section 3: Identifying and describing another health professional in team
Another team member Jenny Jones is efficiently handling the case of David Smith. She is
very active and dedicated nurse within interpersonal team. David loves to communicate with
Jenny and share his mental and physical health issues with Jenny. She conveys information to
other team members along with the concerned Doctor and it has helped to find out proper
intervention for David. Role of Jenny is mentioned below with ICF framework,
Role in area of body function and structure: Jenny check blood pressure of this patient
thrice a day and she has taken X-ray of David’s neck and back. The X-ray reports have been
handed over to the doctor for identification of reason behind these symptoms.
Role in activity and participation: Jenny asks David about his health issues and helps him
to think positively about recovery. She encourages David to communicate with other patients
to maintain good mood. David is getting motivation from Jenny and he is trying to go to the
toilet without any support. Gradually this patient is getting back to normal condition.
Role in influencing environmental factors: Jenny is a trained nurse and she has knowledge
to use advanced technology to provide medical support to patients. She never gets irritated
while communicating with David. Jenny is friendly with David's wife and conveys

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Professional Health Competency
information regarding his health condition to his wife regularly. As mentioned by Mason et
al. (2016), this kind of attitude of nurses helps patients as well as family members of patients
to stay calm and carefree.
Role in managing personal factor: Jenny has checked that David has no previous record of
stroke and this is the first time he has experienced stroke.
Section 4: Specifying professional characteristics
For applying the intervention of physical therapy different characteristics is essential.
Knowledgeable: this is an essential characteristic or quality of a physical therapist. As stated
by Egener et al. (2017), if a physical therapist is trying to find solutions regarding problems
of a patient, then increasing knowledge base is essential. Different sources of knowledge like,
scholarly journals, supervisor and helpful colleague need to be utilized for finding solutions
that are appropriate. A successful physiotherapist always has plentiful knowledge sources that
enhance success rate of that person. Professionalism can be enhanced by studying the patient
and collecting appropriate information about the problem and probable solutions.
Patience: It is another essential professionalism characteristic that helps a professional
physical therapist to implement intervention in a proper way. Patience is required to collect
information about the care seeker. This can be done through constant communication with
patients and their families. Treatment of pain-stricken patients needs to be done with
patience. Moreover, this character is very essential for therapists who offer treatment to
patients those are suffering from chronic illness (King et al. 2015). Patients waited for long to
achieve treatment and they also expect patience from caregivers. Patience can help to
increase satisfaction rate of care seekers and success rate of invention also increases.
Flexibility: this is another important professional characteristics needed in a physical
therapist at the time of conducting intervention. Caregivers need to be flexible and adjust to

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the preferable time of patients. Moreover, adaptation of innovation and improvisation is also
an essential part of flexibility. New advanced technologies are innovated that is aimed to
reduce pain of patients (Evans, Hocking & Kersten, 2017). Therapists need to adopt these
technologies for can increase the efficiency of the treatment. This can help to impress the
patient and struggle of that person can be reduced.
Section 5: Describing and justifying person-centered strategy
Following two strategies can be applied for ensuring person-centered practice. These person-
centered strategies must be implemented to ensure speedy recovery of David.
Nutritional counseling: David must avoid food with high cholesterol and fat to maintain
good heart condition. A diet chart will be made for him to maintain consumption of calories
per day (Mossialos et al. 2015).
Recreational therapy: David may listen to the music of his choice and it will help him to
avoid mental stress regarding his health condition. He has mentioned that he loves to pain and
he will be encouraged to paint in leisure time to maintain good mood.

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Reference list
Brooker, D., & Latham, I. (2015). Person-centered dementia care: Making services better
with the VIPS framework. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. retrieved
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Cruz, J., Marques, A., Jácome, C., Gabriel, R., & Figueiredo, D. (2015). Global functioning
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analysis based on the ICF framework. COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive
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Evans, M., Hocking, C., & Kersten, P. (2017). Mapping the rehabilitation interventions of a
community stroke team to the Extended International Classification of Functioning,

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