Exploring person-centred physiotherapy in Intensive Care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring person-centred physiotherapy in Intensive Caee
IRAS ID
266088
Contact name
Helen Carruthers
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Salford
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 27 days
Research summary
Research Summary
The aim of this research is to explore how person-centred physiotherapy rehabilitation is delivered to mechanically ventilated patient in intensive care. To do this, the experiences of physiotherapists and service users will be explored. Rehabilitation in Intensive Care is supported by NICE quality statement (NICE, 2017) which suggests that patients and relatives should be involved in goals and programmes. This indicates that rehabilitation should be person-centred, however this is challenging when patients are voiceless due to mechanical ventilation. The research questions for this research are therefore;
• How do physiotherapists deliver physiotherapy rehabilitation in intensive care and how well does it align to person-centred care theory?
• How does the delivery of person-centred physiotherapy rehabilitation compare between novice and expert physiotherapists?
• What makes the care experience of a service user receiving physiotherapy rehabilitation in intensive care person-centred?
• How does the understanding and experience of person-centred care in physiotherapy rehabilitation in intensive care compare between physiotherapists’ and service users’?The research design will be qualitative using interviews and focus groups as the method of data collection and interpretative phenomenological analysis as the method of data analysis. It aims to gain an understanding of person-centred physiotherapy reported by novice and experienced physiotherapists and an interpretation of whether experience changes understanding and practice of person-centredness. Experiences of service users and carers will be explored to discover what it is like to receive physiotherapy rehabilitation in intensive care, and how involved they were in their physiotherapy care. Following this, a comparison of the physiotherapists’, service users’ and carers’ experiences and understandings gained from it will be made. This will allow an interpretation of whether person-centred physiotherapy rehabilitation is delivered in intensive care, and what this looks like.
Summary of Results
The study was impacted by the Covid19 pandemic which has resulted in a delay in the completion of the study. Data collection was planned to begin in early March 2020 but was paused in late February 2020. It was restarted in December 2021 following minor amendments to adhere to the restrictions in contact at that time, as well as some changes in the names of people involved in the study.
One arm of the study explore physiotherapists experiences of providing person-centred physiotherapy within Intensive Care. The conclusion of this study stated that physiotherapists aspire to develop a partnership with their patients by connecting on a human level with them and addressing their biopsychosocial needs. Physiotherapists with experience of developing patient partnerships influence the culture of the Intensive Care team and are role-models to facilitate collaborative person-centred activity in others. These findings have been published with open access and is available here:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37818631/REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
19/WS/0192
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jan 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion