What physio responsibility is not

On my rural paediatric clinic there were many infants being treated for congenital talipies. Patients were being treated with the Ponsetti method which involves serial casting the foot first into supination, then abduction and finally dorsiflexion. If full dorsiflexion range can not be gained with serial casting alone, a single surgical procedure done with a local anaesthetic, which involves severing the achillies tendon is performed. There had been good outcomes for many children being treated with this method with full range of motion being gained with very minimal scarring. The senior physio staff were also pleased with the results. Before this method was implemented, the outcomes for children with talipes were not as successful. The surgical procedure was more complicated, required a general anaesthetic and usually multiple surgeries.

Most parents whose infants required surgery were choosing to undergo the new procedure. However, there was one mother whose baby was soon to need surgery that indicated that she would prefer the older method. The physiotherapists at the facility were giving her information about the new surgery and hoped she would see the benefits of the new procedure. The mother had made her mind up and had it set on the old surgical procedure for her child. She could not be convinced otherwise. I found it disappointing to see the mother make, what I considered, the least optimal choice for her child. However the responsibility for making this decision was up to her. I learned that I have to accept where my responsibility is as a health professional and also where it ends. In this case it was the obligation of the health professionals to provide information and recommendations, but the final choice was the mothers.