Patient-centred practice within physiotherapy? A qualitative study.

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Patient-centred practice within physiotherapy? A qualitative study

• IRAS ID

  189480

• Contact name

  Robert Stenner

• Contact email

  robert.stenner@sompar.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 2 months, days

• Research summary

  Title: Patient-centred practice within physiotherapy? A qualitative study.
  Research Question: To what extent do clinicians successfully elicit what matters most to clients during their consultations?
  Background: Client-centred approaches to care require therapists to engage in trying to understand the full range of problems and concerns, treatment and investigation requests, and emotional and social issues that clients bring to the consultation, along with the client’s individual responses to those factors. If, however, the main issues of importance to clients are not openly declared and discussed they cannot be addressed. This is likely to result in clients receiving the care that clinicians think they need, rather than care based on the needs and preferences of the client. This can lead to reduced client satisfaction, poor outcomes, and potentially increased healthcare costs.

  Objective: This two-phase qualitative study aims to explore current communication practices among physiotherapists; understand the extent to which physiotherapists are able to elicit what matters most to clients during their consultations; and identify what topics of importance to clients are most likely to go unacknowledged. The second phase will explore the potential utility of a pre-consultation intervention in improving patient-centred care processes.

  Design: In the first phase clinicians and clients will be interviewed and consultations recorded. This data will be transcribed and analysed thematically to identify and report patterns (themes) within the data. The second phase will involve the sharing of findings from the first phase with participants via mixed focus groups comprising of clinicians and clients. The focus groups will allow participants to respond, discuss and analyse their reactions, and will help to determine if a pre-consultation intervention or support material might help facilitate the identification of a client’s main agenda.

• REC name

  North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  16/NW/0113

• Date of REC Opinion

  12 Feb 2016

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion