Questions & Goal-Setting Skills: Asking Purposeful Questions & Developing Collaborative Therapeutic Goals

Collaborative goal setting in patient–provider communication with chronic patients is the phase in which – after collecting the data regarding the patient’s health – it is necessary to make a decision regarding the best therapy and behaviors the patient should adopt until the next encounter. Although it is considered a pivotal phase of shared decision making, there remain a few open questions regarding its components and its efficacy: What are the factors that improve or impede agreement on treatment goals and strategies?; What are the ‘success conditions’ of collaborative goal setting?; How can physicians effectively help patients make their preferences explicit and then co-construct with them informed preferences to help them reach their therapeutic goals? Using the theoretical framework of dialogue types, an approach developed in the field of Argumentation Theory, it will be possible to formulate hypotheses on the ‘success conditions’ and effects on patient commitment of collaborative goal setting.

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Goal Attainment Scaling as a Method of Measuring Clinical Outcome for Children with Learning Disabilities

British Journal of Occupational Therapy ◽

10.1177/030802269706000303 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 111-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Anita Young ◽

Rosemary Chesson

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Learning Disabilities ◽

Occupational Therapy ◽

Goal Setting ◽

Goal Attainment ◽

Treatment Options ◽

Goal Attainment Scaling ◽

Therapeutic Goals ◽

Setting Process ◽

Inform Decision Making

In this article, one approach to measuring therapeutic impact — Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) — is discussed. The authors forward the case for GAS based on their own research regarding occupational therapy with children with learning disabilities. GAS is described and the factors relating to the setting of goals are examined. The main advantages are identified and GAS is seen to have benefits beyond those relating specifically to occupational therapy. The implications for multidisciplinary teamworking are examined and, in particular, it is asserted that co-workers may acquire, through the goal-setting process, realistic expectations of clients. The audit of therapeutic goals is seen to have the potential to inform decision making regarding treatment options. In conclusion, GAS is advocated as a particularly appropriate evaluative tool for the 1990s.

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Undesirable Effects of Goal Setting on Perceived Fairness, Commitment, and Unethical Behavior

Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie A&O ◽

10.1026/0932-4089/a000267 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 62 (2) ◽

pp. 97-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nina Keith

Keyword(s):

Goal Setting ◽

Unethical Behavior ◽

The United States ◽

Goal Commitment ◽

Management Technique ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Perceived Fairness ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Positive Effects ◽

And Performance

Abstract. The positive effects of goal setting on motivation and performance are among the most established findings of industrial–organizational psychology. Accordingly, goal setting is a common management technique. Lately, however, potential negative effects of goal-setting, for example, on unethical behavior, are increasingly being discussed. This research replicates and extends a laboratory experiment conducted in the United States. In one of three goal conditions (do-your-best goals, consistently high goals, increasingly high goals), 101 participants worked on a search task in five rounds. Half of them (transparency yes/no) were informed at the outset about goal development. We did not find the expected effects on unethical behavior but medium-to-large effects on subjective variables: Perceived fairness of goals and goal commitment were least favorable in the increasing-goal condition, particularly in later goal rounds. Results indicate that when designing goal-setting interventions, organizations may consider potential undesirable long-term effects.

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