Mental Health Professionals' Attire

Rajagopalan, Mani; Santilli, Mario; Powell, David; Murphy, Megan; O'brien, Marice; Murphy, John

doi:10.3109/00048679809073879

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Rajagopalan and colleagues found some support for this claim in their observation that while most patients with mental health concerns did not feel that the dress of psychiatrists and case workers was an important issue, those who did preferred less formal attire. 17 Similarly, a recent study reported no differences in overall patient satisfaction among obstetricians randomly assigned to dress in business attire, casual clothing, or scrubs. 18 Disparity among physician groups may be due to specialty-specific differences in the demographics of the patient populations and in patient-physician relationships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Perceptions of Outpatients Regarding the Attire of Physiotherapists

Mercer¹,

MacKay‐Lyons²,

Conway³

et al. 2008

Physiotherapy Canada

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Purpose: This study investigated perceptions of patients regarding physiotherapists' attire. Methods: Three hundred patients in three publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy clinics were asked to complete a questionnaire, ranking four photographed modes of attire (lab coat, tailored dress, ''scrubs,'' and jeans) in terms of professionalism, preference, and appropriateness and rating their level of agreement with four statements about physiotherapists' attire. Results: Response rate was 63.7%. The lab coat was ranked most professional, tailored dress most preferred, and jeans least professional and least preferred. Although jeans were deemed inappropriate (p < 0.001), strong support was shown for wearing jeans on ''casual day'' (p ¼ 0.001). Age of respondents influenced the perception of the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p ¼ 0.007 for male therapist; p ¼ 0.017 for female therapist); only the cohort <36 years considered jeans appropriate apparel. Overall exposure to physiotherapists (number of lifetime visits) affected patients' perceptions of the importance of attire (p ¼ 0.039) and the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p ¼ 0.018): as number of visits increased, perceived importance decreased and perceived propriety of jeans increased. Conclusion: The findings of this study, the first to examine patients' opinions of physiotherapists' attire, suggest that outpatients made clear distinctions between what they perceived as professional and what they preferred, as well as between the appropriateness of physiotherapists' wearing jeans in general and the appropriateness of their doing so on ''casual day.'' Age and exposure to physiotherapists influenced patients' perceptions of attire.Key Words : attire, patient satisfaction, physical therapist, professionalism, questionnaire RÉ SUMÉObjet : Cette é tude a investigué la perception qu'ont les patients de la tenue des physiothé rapeutes. Me´thodologie : On a demandé à 300 patients de trois cliniques de physiothé rapie externes publiques de remplir un questionnaire, classant la photographie de quatre tenues (blouse de laboratoire, tenue habillé e, uniforme [« scrubs »] et jeans) en termes de professionnalisme, de pré fé rence et de convenance et d'é valuer le niveau d'acquiescement avec les quatre é noncé s à propos de la tenue des physiothé rapeutes. Re´sultats : Le taux de ré ponse a é té de 63,7%. La blouse de laboratoire a connu la cote la plus é levé e de l'aspect professionnel, la tenue habillé e é tait la plus pré fé ré e et le jeans le moins professionnel et le moins aimé . Bien que le jeans ait é té considé ré comme peu convenable (p < 0,001), le port du jeans pour « la journé e du dé contracté » a suscité un soutien solide (p ¼ 0,001). L'â ge des ré pondants a joué sur la perception de la convenance du port du jeans (p ¼ 0,007 pour l'homme physiothé rapeute ; p ¼ 0,017 pour la femme physiothé rapeute) ; seule la cohorte des < 36 ans considé rait le jeans comme une tenue convenable. La visibilité totale des physiothé rapeutes (nombre de visites à vi...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Perceptions of Outpatients Regarding the Attire of Physiotherapists

Mercer¹,

MacKay‐Lyons²,

Conway³

et al. 2008

Physiotherapy Canada

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show abstract

“…It has also been suggested that patient preference may be linked to physician specialty. For example, patients appear to be more accepting of casually dressed psychiatrists11, and emergency room physicians 12. In a recent study assessing patient satisfaction with care among obstetricians in an outpatient setting satisfaction was not found to be influenced by attire 13.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pharmacist attire and its impact on patient preference

Cretton-Scott¹,

Johnson

King

2011

Pharmacy Practice (Internet)

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*Objective: To determine the influence of demographics on patient preferences for community pharmacist attire. Methods: A 10-item questionnaire was developed and administered to patients visiting a chain pharmacy or an independent pharmacy in the Birmingham, Alabama metropolitan area. MannWhitney was used to examine if statistical differences existed in chain versus independent pharmacy patient's selections based on pharmacist attire. Results: A statistically significant difference in patient preference for pharmacist attire between the settings in regards to which pharmacist patients felt was more approachable was observed; 51.2% of chain pharmacy respondents compared to 30% of independent pharmacy respondents identified the pharmacist pair with business formal attire and white coat as more approachable. Differences in education was also apparent with 70% of respondents in the independent pharmacy setting reporting having a Bachelor's degree or higher compared to 45% of respondents in the chain pharmacy setting. Conclusion: With the exception of approachability, patients indicated preference for pharmacist with the white coat regardless of community setting. VESTIMENTA DEL FARMACÉUTICO Y SU IMPACTO EN LAS PREFERENCIAS DE LOS PACIENTES RESUMENObjetivo: Determinar la influencia de la demografía en las preferencias de los pacientes por la vestimenta de los farmacéuticos comunitarios. Métodos: Se desarrolló y administró un cuestionario de 10 preguntas a pacientes que visitan una farmacia comunitaria de cadena y una independiente en el área metropolitana de Birmingham, Alabama. Se usó el test de MannWhitney para determinar si existen diferencias entre las farmacias de cadena e independientes en la selección de los pacientes de la vestimenta de los farmacéuticos. Resultados: Se observó una diferencia significativa en las preferencias de los pacientes en los dos tipos de establecimientos en relación a que farmacéutico sentían más próximo: 51,2% de los respondentes de cadenas comparado con el 30% de los de farmacias independientes identifico al par de farmacéuticos con vestimenta formal de empresa y bata blanca como más próximo. Las diferencias en educación también fueron aparentes, con un 70% de los respondentes en farmacia independiente con una licenciatura o superior, comparado con el 45% de los respondentes en farmacias de cadena. Conclusión: Con excepción de la proximidad, los pacientes indicaron su preferencia por farmacéuticos con bata blanca independientemente del tipo de establecimiento. Dada la importancia de la comunicación paciente-farmacéutico para construir una relación exitosa, si los pacientes no perciben al farmacéutico como próximo, la comunicación y el consiguiente desarrollo de la citada relación puede no ocurrir, independientemente de los conocimientos y competencia percibidos.

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“…The recent article on mental health professionals' attire [1] confirms my clinical impression that patients either don't care what their psychiatrists wear or prefer a more casual look. I have struggled with this issue since my medical student days, when my friends and I would carry our short white coats over our shoulders on hot days, rather than swelter.…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

The Emperor's New Clothes

1999

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

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Mental Health Professionals' Attire

Abstract: Psychiatrists and case managers in a community mental health team could consider adopting less formal attire. This conclusion is limited by the small sample and may be relevant to rural areas only. Further research is needed in urban centres. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Cited by 6 publications

References 21 publications

Perceptions of Outpatients Regarding the Attire of Physiotherapists

Perceptions of Outpatients Regarding the Attire of Physiotherapists

Pharmacist attire and its impact on patient preference

The Emperor's New Clothes

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