Key Learnings: Webinar 1
The CCOA Webinar Series is designed to provide a look at current trends, issues, and opportunities associated with being a regulated member of the CCOA. This is part of the CCOA's commitment to furthering the knowledge of regulated members, and providing safe, competent, and ethical care to patients. In the first webinar of the series, Dr. Dean Wright, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Chiropractic Protective Association (CCPA) and CCOA Registrar Dr. Todd Halowski discussed the following key learnings.
Protecting your Patients using Professional Boundaries
One of the first topics discussed by Dr. Halowski is the reiteration that it is the chiropractor's responsibility to establish professional boundaries in the doctor patient relationship. Dr. Wright further elaborated on this point by indicating a societal shift, especially over the last few years, creating turmoil in that relationship. Dr. Wright has noticed a change in those boundary situations, whether they're medium-sized matters or significant aggressions, that the frequency and the complexity is up, and therefore the impact to practitioners and patients is up. Dr. Wright explains while it may seem easy for the patient to lodge a complaint against a practitioner, the power imbalance is always in the chiropractor's hands to manage, as it is the patient who trusts the chiropractor to take care of them and guide them in their healthcare.
Awareness
One of the key ways to understanding this power imbalance, is practicing awareness in the situation. As Dr. Wright elaborates, "the key part of awareness is slowing things down, so you can take it all in - being aware of yourself, the patient and the situation - and part of that then engages communication." As he elaborates, that too often people think communication is "I tell you something, therefore I've communicated it. But communication really involves articulating, laying out what it is, you're thinking about, that you want to engage the patient with." As Dr. Wright says. the communicator should then stop, wait, and hear the response back, being aware in the moment that "communication is a two way street", and "an engaged patient will often reply back with verbal or non-verbal cues to make the communicator aware of how they are feeling in the moment."
Dr. Wright also promoted awareness of the situation, explaining that "once you're a Doctor of Chiropractic, whether you like it or not, you're always the Doctor of Chiropractic, even when you're casually enjoying yourself." It means being aware of the language utilized, as [the practitioner] will always be seen as an expert and a caregiver, even in situations where they may not be speaking on behalf of their practice or profession. As Dr. Halowski follows, one of the best things a practitioner can do is establish that boundry, that once you are in the clinic, it doesn't matter who they were before, they are now seen as patients first - even if it means removing some familiarity from your relationship with them in the interest of better care.
"Setting up that boundary sets up a very positive clinical interaction. Right from the outset, if you do that, then you're less likely to start going down a path that creates an issue" explains Dr. Wright. "If you have your clinical mindset on, you're less likely to lose your focus. The minute you lose your focus, you're not only setting yourself up for a boundary violation, but you're compromising the quality of your care as well."
The role of the Canadian Chiropractic Protective Association
If one believes that they have crossed a professional boundary, and are facing a complaint, Dr. Wright suggests you give them a call immediately. "We're the Canadian Chiropractic Protective Association, as a member of ours. Our role is to try and protect you. We want to stop things from becoming a problem. If you think you'll have any issue whatsoever, reach out to us. Our job is to try and help you put your best foot forward. We care greatly. We can be objective."
Resources and Documents