Jeff Langmaid identifies five belief domains patients need addressed in clinical reports: what the pain is, what caused it, what it means, how to control it, and how long it lasts. Answering these questions directly improves how patients understand their condition.
There are different belief domains as they outline in the study. One of them is what is this pain? It's an identity belief as they call it. What caused this pain? That's a causal belief. Where we're going to focus most today. What will this pain mean to me? Really big one Consequence beliefs How can I control this pain? Control beliefs and how long will it last? Timeline beliefs Here's a spoiler alert. If you really want to put together a ridiculously patient centric powerful report of findings, answer those questions to the best of your ability. Right? When you're answering the questions of what is this pain? What caused this pain? What will it mean to me? How do I control it, and how long will it last? I don't expect anybody to have perfect answers, but using your clinical judgment and best evidence and experience, when you can start to frame that conversation, wow, that is a powerful report of findings. That's a powerful way to communicate with your patients because you're speaking and leaning in to what they their questions are, which in many cases are far more important than what your questions are.
