Putting the Power of the Placebo Into Clinical Practice
Editorial Staff
| DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE
The placebo effect is well-documented in research, but as with all research, its true value lies in the extent to which it can be incorporated into the real world – in this case, your clinical practice. A recent blog post by Wayne Jonas, MD, professor of medicine at Georgetown University and alternative medicine researcher, provides tips for how to do just that:
1. Cultivate positive patient expectations."Patients who are better informed about their treatment and who receive positive messages about what to expect, heal more. Let the patient know the intention of the treatment effects."
2. Listen, then respond positively. "Listen to the patient and respond in a way that enhances the therapeutic effect through positive messages based on the patient's expectations. When possible, touch the patient with empathy and reassurance."
3. Be warm and caring when delivering treatment. "Use a calm tone of voice, look at the patient and touch him/her/them."
4. Treat with confidence. "Present the treatment in a way that shows your confidence in its power to heal. Understand the treatment's mechanism of action, ensure that credible science supports it and explain how it works to the patient."
5. Be the reassuring, calming force your patient needs. "Incorporate reassurance, relaxation, suggestion, and anxiety-reduction methods. For example, a smile, a touch or an expression of caring can provide reassurance and induce relaxation. Frame the goals of treatment in positive language (how much improvement the patient can expect) rather than negative language (chance of not working)."
6. Add a conditioning stimulus to your treatment. "Deliver a safe and easy-to-use conditioned stimulus along with the therapy. The repeated ritual of treatment ... preparing special food and linking treatment to smell or light exposure are examples."
7. Align your beliefs. "Align your beliefs with those of the patient, his/her/their family, and the culture."
Source
Jonas W. "Physician's Perspective: 7 Ways to Harness Placebo Power." Psychology Today, Feb. 25, 2020.
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