Sports Injury Rehabilitation Case Study

However, it has been reported that psychology has an important role in sports injury rehabilitation. Due to this, studies were done on sports medicine experts and it was found out that most of them agreed that psychological skills play an important role in sports injury rehabilitation. (Hemmings & Povey, 2001, p. 61). Majority of physical therapists are aware that the psychological factors of rehabilitation are of importance to the healing process. Coupled with this, they also attempt to use psychological interventions in their practice to aid in the rehabilitation process. The application of these interventions in physical therapy might range from “providing reassurance to setting goals or inquiring about the functional consequences of pain.”

These are social support, confidence and competence, refer, accommodate, psychological skills, and educate. To briefly discuss, Social support is mainly the utilization of closely related individuals that are able to assist the injured athlete in the recovery period. These are commonly the people that the athlete trusts or respects. In confidence and competence, the sports medicine practitioner should help in boosting the athlete’s confidence and competence. As a result, this will positively affect the athlete. In the case that the athlete will not positively respond to the rehabilitation process, the third psychological aspect is advised. The practitioner may refer the injured athlete to an expert so as to avoid other casualties. Furthermore, the sports medicine expert shall be of good accommodation to the injured athlete in a way that will benefit the athlete. Next, the practitioner may use psychological skills such as imagery, relaxation, and goal-setting to increase the rate of recovery of the athlete. Lastly, educating the athlete about the recovery time, pathology of the injury, and other necessary information that will help him/her in the rehabilitation

(2007) discussed about Lock and Latham’s Theory of Goal Setting. In the said theory, one’s goals have two main attributes. Namely, content and intensity. The theory specified that goal content is the goal being sought. Similarly, goal intensity is amount of time and effort that an athlete is investing to achieve a certain goal. When the two interact, this will produce action. Thus, goal-setting. Through this, sports medicine experts can incorporate such skill into hastening the healing process of sports injury. Encouraging the injured athlete to set goals in order for him/her to finish the rehabilitation will help in speeding up the recovery. In the survey conducted for the purpose of this research, on a likert scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), the respondents were asked if keeping a positive attitude and/or having determination helped them in visualizing themselves injury free, 46% of the respondents said that they agree on this statement. Furthermore, Lock and Latham’s Theory of Goal Setting indentified the important aspects in goal-setting which are the demands and challenges that are put in to the individual to create a development in achieving his/her goals. The demands will then lead to the bettering of the athlete’s ability to set goals. With this, performance based goals are set resulting into the faster recovery in sports