Reflective Essay: Implementing Collaborative Physiotherapy in Practice

This reflective essay explores the author's experiences and learnings as a physiotherapy practitioner, focusing on collaborative, client-centered, and culturally responsive care. The essay highlights the importance of building therapeutic relationships with clients and other healthcare professionals through effective communication and cultural sensitivity. It discusses how engaging clients in discussions about assessment findings and intervention strategies leads to shared decision-making and improved health outcomes. The author reflects on the significance of understanding clients' needs, perceptions, and cultural backgrounds to provide equitable and effective care, emphasizing that language barriers can impact health outcomes and require careful consideration. Ultimately, the essay underscores the value of reflective practice in physiotherapy for promoting client empowerment, fostering trust, and ensuring continuous professional development.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Reflective essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1REFLECTIVE ESSAY
According to Australian physiotherapy Council, a physiotherapist should promote and
practice collaborative care and engage in a culturally responsive and client-centred model of
practice (Brady, Veljanova & Chipchase, 2016). A physiotherapist should work in collaboration
with clients for promoting integrated care and shared decision making enabling optimum health
outcomes. Therefore, I believe that being a physiotherapist, my position is to create therapeutic
and collaborative relationships with my clients involved directly into care as well as with other
healthcare professionals.
For achieving collaborative care, I engaged my client into a discussion explaining the
assessment findings, discussing about the intervention strategies and finally developing an
acceptable plan. This collaborative practice helped me to identify and justify options for
interventions that are based on client’s preferences and needs, best evidence-based practice,
clinical guidelines and available resources considering that whether physiotherapy is indicated
(Aguilar et al., 2013). For the approaches to intervention, I demonstrated my skills that are
suitable to it considering that it helped me to work in collaboration with my client. I tried to
balance my client’s needs with the effective and efficient interventions. In addition, I also
demonstrated an understanding of precautions and contraindications while selecting strategies
and at the same time, I advised my client about the risk or side effects of the treatment. For a
client-centred approach, I assessed their needs and perceptions, as I believe that it may influence
health behaviour contributing to a favourable assessment of the therapeutic experience thereby
addressing their needs and expectations in the provision of care (Brewer & Jones, 2013).
For a culturally responsive care, I improved my communication skills while interacting
with my clients to get more information from them. This also helps to boost their confidence and
build trust in the treatment. I understood my client’s culture and acknowledged their perceptions

2REFLECTIVE ESSAY
of health that shape health behaviour. Within my scope of practice, I continuously reflected on
my own culture as well as take client’s culture engaging them in ongoing learning process for
interacting effectively and responding to my client (Bialocerkowski et al., 2013). In addition, I
demonstrated non-verbal communication skills by listening to the client carefully in an
empathetic and sensitive manner. Similarly, I respected the personal and cultural differences of
my client so that they are encouraged to provide complete information with any hesitation. At the
same time, I demonstrated consideration of client’s privacy, confidentiality and sensitivities.
From the above experience, I learned that through collaborative and culturally responsive
physiotherapy practice, I was able to establish trust and rapport with my clients belonging to
other cultures and inquiring respectfully. Through a client-centred approach, there was
establishment of physiotherapist-client relationship. I also learned that effective communication
helped me to acknowledge the cultural dissimilarity while discussing client-centred assessment
and treatment plan (Mudge, Stretton & Kayes, 2014). While reflecting on my own physiotherapy
practice, it helped me to ensure equitable outcomes, improve and demonstrate my life-long
learning in cultural competence. I understood that language barriers greatly affect health
outcomes of clients belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds. Therefore, being a
physiotherapist, I need to be aware of the communication methods including nonverbal
communication whose English comprehension is limited. Ineffective cross-cultural
communication can lead to bias, inaccuracy and misinterpretation that in turn can result in
potential litigation, ineffective physiotherapy treatment and discrimination against my clients.
The above experience influenced my scope of physiotherapy in a way that cross-cultural
communication with client is an important aspect in seeking their perspectives and needs into
consideration pertinent in collaborative and client-centred approach to care. Client-centred and

3REFLECTIVE ESSAY
collaborative approach is a way to empower clients and provide them treatments that promote
effective interventions. In physiotherapy sessions, I need to appraise the risks and benefits
effectively with clients through cross-communication with them who have limited English
proficiency. Client-centred and collaborative approach can help my clients be actively engaged
in decision-making process and treatment that they receive. I believe that collaborative and
culturally responsive approach can help to involve clients in decisions about care enshrined in
the negotiation process of valid consent that is at the heart of physiotherapy practice (Pitance et
al., 2016).
The client-centred and collaborative approach and use of reflective practice in
physiotherapy practice greatly aids in client collaboration and empowerment encouraging them
to participate in decision-making process. This fact influenced my practice that as a
physiotherapist I need to demonstrate and recognize client-centred and collaborative approach
highlighting communication as a major competency. It can be stated that communication is the
cornerstone for a successful physiotherapy session. These competencies guide physiotherapy
practices reminding them about importance of client-centred, collaborative and culturally
responsive approach in their scope of practice (Whalley Hammell, 2013). It influenced my
practice and created awareness for stimulating interest for professional practice and improved
physiotherapy practice.

4REFLECTIVE ESSAY
References
Aguilar, A., Stupans, I., Scutter, S., & King, S. (2013). Exploring the professional values of
Australian physiotherapists. Physiotherapy research international, 18(1), 27-36.
Bialocerkowski, A., Johnson, A., Allan, T., & Phillips, K. (2013). Development of physiotherapy
inherent requirement statements–an Australian experience. BMC medical
education, 13(1), 54.
Brady, B., Veljanova, I., & Chipchase, L. (2016). Culturally informed practice and
physiotherapy. Journal of physiotherapy, 62(3), 121-123.
Brewer, M. L., & Jones, S. (2013). An interprofessional practice capability framework focusing
on safe, high-quality, client-centred health service. Journal of Allied Health, 42(2), 45E-
49E.
Mudge, S., Stretton, C., & Kayes, N. (2014). Are physiotherapists comfortable with person-
centred practice? An autoethnographic insight. Disability and rehabilitation, 36(6), 457-
463.
Pitance, L., Piraux, E., Lannoy, B., Meeus, M., Berquin, A., Eeckhout, C., ... & Roussel, N.
(2016). Cross cultural adaptation, reliability and validity of the French version of the
central sensitization inventory. Manual therapy, 25, e83-e84.
Whalley Hammell, K. R. (2013). Client-centred practice in occupational therapy: Critical
reflections. Scandinavian journal of occupational therapy, 20(3), 174-181.