Request from Client

[yseespgz]

I am putting this in general therapies, as although this applies to reflexology, my query could relate to any treatment.

I have been treating a lady in one of the clinics where I work with reflexology over the past few months. She has an elderly father with many health problems who she thinks could benefit from reflexology, but she doesn't think he would be keen. Whether she has actually asked him or not I don't know, but in her words, he is an elderly Pakistani man who would never spend money on himself, especially on something he didn't understand such as reflexology.

She has asked me if I would do a home visit, which she will pay for which is fine. The problem is, she doesn't want him to know it is reflexology as such and doesn't want him to know that it is being paid for! She wants to tell him that I'm a nurse from the local hospital and apparently he will then accept treatment from me.

I've told her that I wouldn't lie to her father, but if he asked any questions about money, would be happy to say that his daughter was dealing with it. Obviously she took me by surprise when she asked me, but having had time to think about this, I don't think I would be happy pretending to be something I'm not and probably in the worst case scenario, this could invalidate my insurance.

I can see that my client's motives are well-intended, but am I setting myself up for some problems?

Lesley

 

[tjrqwhln]

I agree with you Lesley - can you imagine the headlines "Reflexologist in nurse fraud scam"!!!

I had a similar situation where a lady arranged reflex for her elderly mother in law. Only when I turned up for the appointment did she tell me that her MIL didn't really want reflex and that she thought I was coming just for a chat and not for a treatment, and could I talk her round. However there was no worry about money as the client paid herself.

It's a difficult situation that you are in because you can't really do what they are asking... You said that she said he willa ccept treatment from you if he thinks you are a nurse. Could you just put on your best nurse looking uniform (I know people think I look like a nurse in mine!!) adn talk to him in strictly medical terms. If you have worked in a hospital/doctors/clinic make sure you mention that to put him at ease. Would that work???

Good luck and look forward to hearing how you get on.

Sarah x

 

[raedjuhmijhixoedi]

Hello Aromababe

what a quandry....if this was happening to me I would have a similar reply to yours....I will only tell the truth about who I am and what I have to offer.

The gift of it is that it helps you get even clearer about what your values are.

I think it is the role of the daughter to explain the benefits more clearly to her father.

good luck

tigress

 

[Love my Mutts!!!]

Hello,

Quite a dilema. I would never pretend to be something I am not. It feels like the daughter wants to impose a treatment on her father, by tricking him into making him believe that it is a medical trteament a nurse is giving him. Ethically would not feel comfortable going along...
If the gentleman is an elderly Pakistanese, you may be up with cultural values that don't allow one to be touched by someone from the other gender unless they are a doctor/nurse.

Let us know how it develops.
Artemis

 

[mindwarp]

The more I think about this, the more I'm not happy. After all, we're trained to explain all about the treatment to the client and to get their permission and if this man found out he'd been duped, he would get upset with me not his daughter.

As an exercise, I'm going to call up my insurance company (FHT) and hear what their stance is on this.

Will let you know what happens.

Lesley