The Healthy Elk Positive Expectations have Positive Outcomes

THE HEALTHY ELK

Positive Expectations Lead to Positive Outcomes In Life & Physical Therapy

Submitted by Andi Geary, MPT, Cert. MDT, ATC, owner of Elk Valley Physical Therapy. Andi has been the owner of EVPT since 2010. She is a 1996 honors graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in sports medicine from University of Charleston and she graduated from WVU with a Masters in Physical Therapy. She is a proud HHHS alumnus and is very active in Elk River athletics and youth programs.

Research has shown that the idea behind the selffulfilling prophecy is true. People who believe they will succeed put in more effort. They are more willing to try new things, take some risks, and keep trying after failures or setbacks. People with negative attitudes take the first failure or setback as confirmation that whatever they’re trying won’t work or isn’t possible, and give up. Why waste time and effort on something that is doomed to failure anyway? Research on attitudes of rehab patients show this to be true in recovery as well. A review of 23 articles looking at outcomes for shoulder pain found a few interesting things. First, patients who expected to recover and believed that they had some control of the outcome ended up doing better than those who didn’t. Second, optimistic patients were found to have less pain and disability after completing rehab. Third, patients who believed they would have pain and disability after surgery tended to have - you guessed it - pain and disability after their surgery. Research says that patients tend to get what they expect. It’s easy to allow negativity to enter our lives this time of year. The parties and gift giving is over, but our holiday credit card bills are due, the weather isn’t great, we have short days and long nights, and often we have already failed at our New Year’s resolutions….how does anyone make it through January? A fresh start for everyone is to always have an optimistic expectation for all the hurdles life throws at us. Going into these situations with an upbeat attitude will often be the advantage needed for a positive outcome. Best wishes from the staff at Elk Valley Physical Therapy for a prosperous 2023!