Jäppinen A.-M.1,2, Hämäläinen H.2, Kettunen T.1,3, Piirainen A.1
1University of Jyvaskyla, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Jyväskylä, Finland, 2Helsinki University Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation, Helsinki, Finland, 3Central Finland Health Care District, Unit of Primary Health Care, Jyväskylä, Finland
Background: Physiotherapist is one professional of caring team for patients undergoing hip arthroplasty and joint arthroplasty clinical pathways recommend education as a part of caring process. Still there is a limited knowledge about patients' and physiotherapists' conceptions of physiotherapy counselling at hip arthroplasty.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe physiotherapists' conceptions of the physiotherapy counselling needed by patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty.
Methods: The data for this qualitative study was collected using group (n=1) and individual (n=9) semi structured interviews. Totally seven physiotherapists were interviewed, mean age was 43,5 years. The interviews explored physiotherapists views on physiotherapy counselling and physiotherapy along hip arthroplasty; contents, forms and aims in physiotherapy and physiotherapy counselling, self-evaluation of physiotherapy session, interaction between patient, physiotherapists experiences concerning patients ability to go home and manage there. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The research data was analyzed by using a phenomenographic method (Åkerlind, 2005).
Results: Three different categories of physiotherapy counselling at hip arthroplasty were produced. These categories were constructed hierarchically through the following themes:
1. Moving,
2. Exercising
3. Interaction in relation to patient and
4. Health care system.
The narrowest descriptive category was Schematic physiotherapy comply with the protocol. Physiotherapy identifying patients needing individual rehabilitation was the second category, and the third was Coaching physiotherapy supporting rehabilitation at home, which was the widest category containing other two categories.
Conclusion(s): The key aspects were found in the varying themes. They constructed the critical aspects between the descriptive categories. Two critical aspects could be identified. The first critical aspect was how schematic physiotherapy (Category I) could shift towards physiotherapy identifying patients needing individual rehabilitation (Category II). The key issue was to increase individuality in exercise counselling and interaction. The second critical aspect was in widening the perspective from physiotherapy identifying patients needing individual rehabilitation (Category II) to coaching physiotherapy supporting patient rehabilitation at home (Category III). Then, the point was to prepare patient to manage for the future and a vision of an ideal situation supporting patients coping at home. Counselling is one of the physiotherapists core competences. According to the results the counselling should be directed both to the individual aspects and to the networks in patients environment outside the hospital.
Implications: Physiotherapists need to be aware of their own perspectives of counselling and also patients view. Through these and with evidence-based practice physiotherapists should modify their counselling and counselling skills to meet patients needs.
Funding acknowledgements: No funding
Topic: Education
Ethics approval: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Committee of the healthcare district where the data collection took place.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
