Physiotherapy Initial Assessment

A weak subjective produces an objective examination that tests everything and localises nothing. The assessment that works spends its time in the history — what the patient can no longer do, what changes the symptoms, and what they are afraid of — and then examines to confirm or refute a hypothesis rather than to fill in a form. This structures that sequence, and makes the flag screening deliberate rather than incidental.

What This Skill Produces

• A structured subjective — history, behaviour of symptoms, aggravating and easing factors, and the 24-hour pattern
• A deliberate flag screen — red flags checked and recorded as checked, and yellow flags identified rather than noticed in passing
• A targeted objective plan — the tests that would confirm or refute the working hypothesis, rather than a standard battery
• The working hypothesis, with competitors — what you think it is, and what else would explain the same picture
• Patient-centred goals — in the patient's own functional terms, measurable, with a timeframe
• The reassessment markers — the specific findings that will tell you whether treatment is working

Required Inputs