Getting in touch: Communication in physical therapy practice and the multiple functions of language.

The findings come from a single patient and a single therapist, selected from nine encounters because the patient became more engaged, so they may not reflect typical encounters. The study did not compare patients or outcomes, so it cannot show that the therapist’s communication caused participation. The encounter included interview, examination, speech, gaze, touch, and note-taking, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The interpretations were made by the authors, including a physical therapist who was also a researcher, so the analysis may reflect their perspective. All participants were Norwegian, and the therapists were experienced specialists, so applicability to other settings is limited. The patient had chronic neck pain and sought psychomotor physical therapy, so it says little about other pain conditions or other treatment approaches.

The study was funded by the Norwegian Fund for Post-Graduate Training in Physiotherapy. The authors declared no commercial financial relationships.

Do not conclude that these communication behaviours reliably increase patient participation. The study analysed a single encounter chosen because the patient became more engaged, and the authors state that generalizations cannot be made from a single case.