Reflective listening in counseling: effects of training time and evaluator social skills

Determining Counseling Self-efficacy of Indian Students of Speech Language Pathology

Purpose

Counseling self-efficacy is the view that counselors have of their capability to practice certain abilities that contribute to good clinical service. Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) require to possess strategic counseling skills for effective service delivery. Although counseling is mostly considered an essential component during rehabilitation, many SLPs receive no explicit training on the same. The current study aims to explore self-efficacy measures in counseling among Indian students of speech-language pathology.

Methods

The Counselor Activity Self-Efficacy Scales (CASES), which is a 6-point Likert rating scale developed by Victorino and Hinkle (2019) was adopted to assess the self-efficacy of 105 student clinicians (undergraduates and graduates) of speech-language pathology. The study comprised of two phases. Phase one included the administration of the CASES questionnaire on the target population, and Phase two included performing frequency-based analysis on Helping Skills (HS), Emotional Support Skills (ESS), and Session Management Skills (SMS) domains.

Results

The majority of participants felt somewhat confident over questions in the HS and ESS domain, while a large proportion felt very confident over the questions in the SMS domain. Although the student clinicians felt somewhat confident and very confident in most of the domains, none of the participants were completely confident in any of the domains.

Conclusion

Having a counseling self-efficacy tool will help estimate the level of counseling competency one may possess. The results of the study can be used to design effective counseling-based training programs for student clinicians and practicing professionals, to achieve productive therapeutic connections with patients and caregivers.

Lessons Learned From iCare: A Postexamination Text-Messaging-Based Program With Sexual Assault Patients

BACKGROUND

Although beneficial, few sexual assault patients seek follow-up healthcare or counseling after a medical forensic examination. Mobile technology interventions may help patients engage in postcare, but there is a dearth of research on patients' utilization of these interventions. The current study examines patients' engagement with a 4-week postassault text message program (iCare), which assessed patients' safety and well-being, if they needed assistance with accessing nonoccupational postexposure prophylaxis, or scheduling appointments for follow-up pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection testing, and their experience with the criminal justice system.

METHODS

This pilot study collected data from 40 adult patient records and texting communications between the nurse and patients. We utilized descriptive statistics to examine patient utilization of the program.

RESULTS

Sixty-five percent of the patients responded at least once during the program, but only two responded to every text. Nearly a quarter of the patients (22.5%) requested the texts to stop before the end of the program. A larger portion of the patients (42.5%) did not opt out but stopped replying by the third message. The program appeared to be helpful for increasing the amount of communication between the nurse and the patient, but patients rarely utilized the nurse's offers of assistance (e.g., counseling, advocacy).

DISCUSSION

Text interventions appear to be effective for relaying information but may be limited for increasing postexamination service utilization for sexual assault patients. Future research should examine areas of patient needs in the weeks and months postexamination that can be addressed in text interventions.

The Cultural Ecogram: A Tool for Enhancing Culturally Anchored Shared Understanding in the Treatment of Ethnic Minority Families

Ethnic and racial disparities in mental health care continue to exist, highlighting the increasing concern within the realm of clinical practice as to how clinicians are to effectively integrate the central role of culture and context into the treatment delivery process for culturally diverse children and families. The current paper presents the Cultural Ecogram, - a clinical engagement tool designed to facilitate the development of a culturally anchored shared understanding - as one method that may facilitate clinician-client shared understanding on the client's cultural, ethnic and racial context central to the effective implementation of treatments with ethnic minority children and families.

Teaching Active Listening Skills to Pre-Service Speech-Language Pathologists: A First Step in Supporting Collaboration With Parents of Young Children Who Require AAC

Purpose

This study examined the effect of instruction in an active listening strategy on the communication skills of pre-service speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

Method

Twenty-three pre-service SLPs in their 2nd year of graduate study received a brief strategy instruction in active listening skills. Participants were videotaped during a simulated parent meeting before and after the strategy instruction. Simulated parent meetings addressed issues that parents of children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) may face. Social validity measures were gathered from the participants and from parents of children who use AAC.

Results

Pre- and postinstruction use of the active listening strategy was scored and compared using a Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, with statistically significant results. Postinstruction scores were significantly higher than preinstruction scores, providing evidence of the effectiveness of the instruction. Furthermore, participants and parents of children who use AAC described the postinstruction interactions more positively than the preinstruction interactions, suggesting that the pre-service SLPs benefited from the instruction.

Conclusion

The current study provides evidence of the effectiveness of strategy instruction in active listening skills that may be incorporated into SLP preparation programs.

Therapeutic Listening as a health intervention strategy: an integrative review

Objective To investigate and evaluate the available evidence in the literature regarding the use of Therapeutic Listening as a health intervention strategy. Method Integrative review conducted on the following databases PubMed, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, EMBASE, LILACS and APA PsycNET without restrictions of year or type of study. The keywords were combined in different ways to ensure extensive search of primary studies. Results Among the 15 studies on Therapeutic Listening, 33% addressed the effect of training on listening skills, 27% focused on the efficacy of listening as an intervention, 20% explored the experiences lived by the subjects regarding listening and 20% discussed various aspects of listening. Conclusion Most studies have strong to moderate level of evidence, although addressing different aspects related to Therapeutic Listening, they have in common the need for recognition of skills on the part of health professionals, to develop an effective process of listening.


Training obstetrics and gynecology residents to be effective communicators in the era of the 80-hour workweek: a pilot study

Background

To ensure optimal patient care, physicians must establish effective patient-physician relationships and thoughtfully incorporate their patients’ perspectives into their counseling. Historically, these skills are acquired with increasing clinical experience. However, given increasing work-hour restrictions, OB/GYN residents have fewer opportunities to develop these skills. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine if an interactive learning method is an effective tool by which to teach OB/GYN residents how to communicate with complicated patients.

Methods

An experiential simulation model was developed to teach OB/GYN residents effective communication skills for dealing with patients experiencing a pregnancy-related complication. A simulated patient interaction was designed for first-year residents. Specific scenarios were constructed based on challenging clinical scenarios identified by second-year residents. Non-judgmental communication, culture competency awareness and reflective listening were key skills that were taught as part of the clinical scenarios. Both acceptability and utility of the exercise with the first-years was assessed by a follow-up survey.

Results

Seven first-year residents participated in the education session consisting of four physician-patient interactions with specific learning objectives for each. These first-year residents all indicated that they would employ the skills practiced during the intervention into their future practice of medicine, and that their comfort level in caring for complex obstetric patients had increased. Moreover, all first-year residents endorsed that this educational strategy was potentially applicable to other aspects of their training.

Conclusions

Simulated patient exercises can be utilized in multiple arenas to teach OB/GYN residents communication skills, while simultaneously addressing their clinical knowledge deficits. Early implementation of such a curriculum in an OB/GYN residency will lay the foundation for the development of empathetic and culturally competent physicians.

The REDE Model of Healthcare Communication: Optimizing Relationship as a Therapeutic Agent

The REDE model is a conceptual framework for teaching relationship-centered healthcare communication. Based on the premise that genuine relationships are a vital therapeutic agent, use of the framework has the potential to positively influence both patient and provider. The REDE model applies effective communication skills to optimize personal connections in three primary phases of Relationship: Establishment, Development and Engagement (REDE). This paper describes the REDE model and its application to a typical provider-patient interaction.

Supervised versus non-supervised implementation of an oral health care guideline in (residential) care homes: a cluster randomized controlled clinical trial

Background

The increase of the proportion of elderly people has implications for health care services. Advances in oral health care and treatment have resulted in a reduced number of edentulous individuals. An increasing number of dentate elderly people have tooth wear, periodontal disease, oral implants, and sophisticated restorations and prostheses. Hence, they are in need of both preventive and curative oral health care continuously. Weakened oral health due to neglect of self care and professional care and due to reduced oral health care utilization is already present when elderly people are still community-dwelling. At the moment of (residential) care home admittance, many elderly people are in need of oral health care urgently. The key factor in realizing and maintaining good oral health is daily oral hygiene care. For proper daily oral hygiene care, many residents are dependent on nurses and nurse aides. In 2007, the Dutch guideline "Oral health care in (residential) care homes for elderly people" was developed. Previous implementation research studies have revealed that implementation of a guideline is very complicated. The overall aim of this study is to compare a supervised versus a non-supervised implementation of the guideline in The Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium).

Methods/Design

The study is a cluster randomized intervention trial with an institution as unit of randomization. A random sample of 12 (residential) care homes accommodating somatic as well as psycho-geriatric residents in The Netherlands as well as in Flanders (Belgium) are randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. Representative samples of 30 residents in each of the 24 (residential) care homes are monitored during a 6-months period. The intervention consists of supervised implementation of the guideline and a daily oral health care protocol. Primary outcome variable is the oral hygiene level of the participating residents. To determine the stimulating or inhibiting factors of the implementation project and the nurses' and nurse aides' compliance and perceived barriers, a process evaluation is carried out.

Discussion

The method of cluster randomization may result in a random effect and cluster selection bias, which has to be taken into account when analyzing and interpreting the results.

Trial registration

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN86156614