Everyone wants patients to work in a healthy environment, but do you practise what you preach by making sure your own workplace is safe and healthy for your staff?
“We do the best we can,” said osteopath Natan Gendelman, director of the Health In Motion rehabilitation clinic in Toronto. “If the therapist isn’t comfortable, then the patient is going to sense that, and the patient will not be comfortable either.”
Gendelman added that it is sometimes difficult to ensure that treatment tables for physiotherapy, massage and other therapies in the clinic are a good fit for everyone because of the variety of body types and sizes using them. However, the tables are adjustable for the therapists to be as comfortable as possible while working. Space for therapists to lay their charts out with the day’s patient roster helps for a good work environment, too. “Knowing the schedule for the day means that therapists are not going to be stressed because they know exactly what is planned for the day,” Gendelman said. “This is as important as a safe physical environment – a healthy mental attitude in the workplace. That means better care for our patients.”
"It is sometimes difficult to ensure that treatment tables for physiotherapy, massage and other therapies are a good fit for everyone because of the variety of body types and sizes using them."
Treatment tables are adjusted for patients to get on and off easily, at the right height for the therapist to work, and positioned so the therapist can move around without difficulty. The main thing for patients who have physical or neurological difficulties, and especially for children, Gendelman indicated, is that the clinic rooms be a safe and pleasant environment. Therefore, they are large and brightly lit. Especially in a multidisciplinary clinic, another aspect of a healthy office environment is making sure there is a good fit among the staff. It is important that everyone respects other practitioners’ work and tries to understand the different medical modalities so they can refer appropriately, explained naturopath Sonya Nobbe, director of the Kingston Integrated Healthcare clinic.
“As clinic director, I have little say regarding ergonomics, because everyone provides equipment suitable for their practice,” Nobbe said. “However, I have worked hard to create an environment that is warm and friendly, and where co-workers actually work well together. An office space that can hold eight women who all get along is quite the balancing act, but it’s essential for health. Personality fit is a must in the clinic.” Professionalism and warmth were paramount considerations when the office was being designed last year in a space that had been a veterinary clinic. The wooden furniture complements the terrazzo floors; the stone wall in the waiting room is offset by soft lighting and muted tones on the other walls – all of which creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere for patients and staff. “Having our office manager at the main desk is also important, as that provides human contact and a safe, welcoming space for patients,” Nobbe said. What about patients needing care because of an unhealthy work or home environment? Nobbe indicated that only a small part of her practice is made up of that population. “As a practitioner, I recognize that 100 per cent of my patients have an environmental component to their health. Whether they recognize it and come to me because of it is another story. The environmental component could be social (e.g. relationships), or it could be toxins (e.g. exposure to heavy metals, solvents, allergens),” she said. “It could be ergonomic, and result in a more of a structural health concern, but for these I would refer the patient to either our massage therapist or our osteopath.”
Ergonomics is a misused word as far as Gendelman is concerned, because of everyone’s different body size, weight and height. “You can’t have the perfect office chair, the perfect seat in a car or truck, or the perfect space for everyone to work in,” he said. “You can make adjustments to come close, but everyone is going to have some issues.” So, how can you practise what you preach? According to these practitioners, by creating an atmosphere of mutual respect among practitioners themselves, between clinicians and patients, and by setting up the office to be warm, inviting and safe for patients, a healthy clinic environment can be created – one that will be beneficial for everyone.
