How to treat nonverbal patients (C-100441)
29 January 2021
Winter 2021
Kathy Oxtoby asks how optometrists can communicate effectively with patients who cannot verbally communicate.
Domains covered
Professionalism
Communication
Whether patients communicate verbally or nonverbally, treating them equally is key to effective and equitable optometry services.
“Everything you offer your patients should be the same, however they communicate,” says Daniel Hardiman-McCartney FCOptom, Clinical Adviser for the College. “Ask yourself this: ‘What do I need to alter to ensure I can provide patients who communicate nonverbally with the same quality of care as the rest of the population?’”
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