Introducing Greenspace to Patients - Roleplay Exercises

Before introducing progress measurement and Greenspace to patients, we encourage you to take some time to practice how your 'progress measurement pitch' to patients. One way to do this is to roleplay with a colleague, in order to familiarize yourself with what you might say and become more comfortable with your explanation to patients

Exercise #1 – Introducing progress measurement to patients

Explain what progress measurement is.

• A tool to track changes in symptoms, functioning, and the therapeutic alliance, etc.
• A series of questionnaires supported by research which demonstrates that these tools are effective for measuring symptom severity.

Exercise #2 – The benefits of progress measurement

Explain why progress measurement is beneficial for patients and why they should want to participate.

• Can help identify specific areas of concern or symptoms that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
• Can be used over time to notice changes such as improvements in symptoms or worsening symptoms.
• Helps detect stagnation in therapy which might be an indicator that something needs to change in the therapeutic process in order to improve the patient’s outcomes.
• Provides patients with more information about their own progress in treatment which can help them notice gradual changes in symptoms and may help to reassure patients that progress is being made.

Exercise #3 – What does progress measurement involve?

Explain what the patient has to do in order to participate.

• Specific questionnaires are selected for the patient based on their presenting concerns
• How the questionnaires will typically be completed - email, text, before session or during session.
• The patient will be able to view their own results and see the progression of their results over time as they complete the assessments

Exercise #4 – Addressing patients concerns

At each point in this introductory conversation, check in with the patient to get a sense of how receptive they are to the idea of progress measurement. Some concerns they could raise (that you should practice answering) are:

• Is it really going to help?
• Does the platform securely store the results?
• It seems like too much effort and work outside of session.

Exercise #5 – Peer feedback and self-reflection

Once you have completed this roleplay with a colleague, take a few minutes to receive feedback and reflect on what you thought went well and what you might want to improve. Consider the following questions:

• What went well?
• What are some areas for improvement?
• Were there particular parts of the roleplay that felt more challenging than others?

We encourage you to roleplay this introductory conversation as many times as you need to in order to feel comfortable in your ability to explain it confidently and address any questions or concerns your patients may raise. We also encourage you to play the role of both the patient and the therapist, to get a sense of what messages are most effective for you.