Week 2 started off pretty well. We had our first returning client and I encountered my first “cultural” problem. The cultural issue is discussed below.
1. A male client came in (obviously from a different culture – I’m thinking he was Middle Eastern). We had seen him before and I could kind of tell he was uncomfortable with me doing any of the assessments. In the last session however Matt did the tests and massage and I just took the subjective history. He seemed ok with this. The only time I touched him last time was when we taught him an exercise and I touched his knee. This time when we said we wanted to do more ITB massage he specifically asked that Matt be the one to do it (Matt and I had already discussed this as we realized it was an issue last time). He said in his culture the females cannot touch the males. I just left the cubicle while Matt did that part of the treatment.
2. I thought we managed it pretty well in the fact that I left for the treatment part, but we could have done better by realizing just how uncomfortable he was last time and I could just not have been part of this session at all. If Matt had done the assessing and treating by himself the client would probably have been a lot more at ease.
3. I felt very uncomfortable knowing that I wasn’t wanted in the cubicle – I was glad to leave!! It was also awkward going back in for the exercise part of the treatment because I wasn’t really sure if he minded me being there. He seemed ok with it.
4. I would let Matt do it by himself. I could still help by coming up with ideas for exercises etc but wouldn’t have to be in the treatment cubicle.
5. I need to work on picking up non-verbal cues from clients who aren’t comfortable.
6. Overall I think we dealt with both clients very well. Today went well except for the fact we don’t get to spend a lot of time with clients. Apparently we can ask to see more clients each day, so hopefully soon we can see a few more.
7. I will do a little research on sleep apnoea. A client mentioned they had it today and talked about a mask he sleeps with. I wasn’t sure exactly what he was talking about so should probably look it up. I would also like to talk to my supervisor about the cultural situation. It worked out well this time as I could leave and Matt could do the treatment, but what if I was the only physio student? Who would have done it then if he didn’t want a female? I’ll discuss this with my supervisor as to what happens in this situation.
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