Resumen de Patients' perspectives of patient-centredness as important in musculoskeletal physiotherapy interactions: a qualitative study
Martin O. Kidd, Carol H. Bond, Melanie L. Bell
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. © 2010 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
