Personalities Persist
As a health care professional, I am trained to read charts and look at diagnoses. I am trained to be informed in anatomy, physiology and pathophysiologies. Over the past 30 years of my education – admittedly continuing to learn more every year – I have learned that personalilties persist. We must not only respect (emerging World trend) but also look for AND utilize information about the person in front of us. When someone is told that they have Parkinson’s Disease, cancer, a torn ACL, or a stroke – personalities persist. Find that person in your examination. Their interests, roles, and responsibilities have been an essential part of our best-practice since the WHO introduced the ICF (international classification of function). We need to go a step farther, as this model has evolved, to look for personalities, beliefs, fears, awareness, and self-efficacy. Personalities persist. Find and use this information to your patients’ advantage.