Responding to Patients' Nonverbal Communication of Affect

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the ways in which occupational therapy students (n=13) say they would respond to patients' nonverbal communication of affect. Students viewed three silent videotapes of patients in treatment on two occasions: at the beginning of their occupational therapy education and after one and a half years of study. The results indicate that after having been active in a new social context, occupational therapy education, students' comments showed evidence of change: This change may be regarded as cognitive in nature because comments became more differentiated and organized. Whether this structural development is related to development from a functional point of view, i.e., comments reflecting a more sensitive adaptation to the patient's feelings, is analyzed based on Burleson's model for the production of comforting strategies. Educational implications are discussed.

Keywords

affective reactions clinical reasoning cognitive development

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