Occupational therapy professionals, what's one technique you've used to motivate patients who are resistant to therapy?

I focus on connection and building relationship with resistant patients. Getting to know them better and their interests can help me find ways to incorporate their interests into therapeutic activities or find opportunities to make the activities they already enjoy more therapeutic. I also recognize that their resistance is likely an indication that they are under stress, so I like to work on adapting the environment, activity, and my therapeutic use of self to create a low stress therapeutic experience.

Many of my patients have lost their vision, resulting in them having lost their sense of who they are, and have gone from being independent in most, if not all, aspects of their life to being dependent on others for a lot of it. One of the things I try to do is to empathize with them as much as possible and tell them what I understand their vision to be like now. I tell them, and their family, that people do what their vision allows them to do. First, I ask what they can do now since their vision loss, and then I ask them what they think they can’t but want to do. I burst a lot of bubbles, letting them know that their vision has changed to the point of needing a different adaptive device/technique(s) to do near, intermediate, and distance tasks. Then I tell people that if they really want to do something, I will stand on my head and dance a jig to figure out a way to help them do it. I stress that it means they may have to trash 3, 4, 5, 6 or even 7 decades of having honed a skill to learn how to do it in a different way. Then I demonstrate how to do a specific task they have cited, while blindfolded. I give them time to think about working with me, usually a couple of days to a week, and I give them my number so they can call to ask questions that weren’t at the forefront of their mind during the visit.

Occupational therapy professionals can effectively motivate resistant patients by personalizing goal-setting to align with their interests. For instance, Sarah, an occupational therapist, works with elderly patients who find therapy boring. By connecting therapy goals to their personal motivations, she fosters a sense of ownership and relevance, enhancing engagement.