Abstract
Objective
To determine patients’ perspectives of components of patient-centred physiotherapy and its essential elements.
Design
Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore patients’ judgements of patient-centred physiotherapy. Grounded theory was used to determine common themes among the interviews and develop theory iteratively from the data.
Setting
Musculoskeletal outpatient physiotherapy at a provincial city hospital.
Participants
Eight individuals who had recently received physiotherapy.
Results
Five categories of characteristics relating to patient-centred physiotherapy were generated from the data: the ability to communicate; confidence; knowledge and professionalism; an understanding of people and an ability to relate; and transparency of progress and outcome. These categories did not tend to occur in isolation, but formed a composite picture of patient-centred physiotherapy from the patient's perspective.
Conclusions and practice implications
This research elucidates and reinforces the importance of patient-centredness in physiotherapy, and suggests that patients may be the best judges of the affective, non-technical aspects of a given healthcare episode.
Citation
Patients’ perspectives of patient-centredness as important in musculoskeletal physiotherapy interactions: a qualitative study
Martin O. Kidd, Carol H. Bond, Melanie L. Bell
Physiotherapy 1 June 2011 (volume 97 issue 2 Pages 154-162 DOI: 10.1016/j.physio.2010.08.002)
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