Lost in translation? How patients perceive the extended scope of physiotherapy in the emergency department
published online 11 January 2010.
Abstract
Objectives
To investigate the perceptions of emergency department physiotherapy practice by emergency patients in metropolitan and regional Australia with a view to probing how consumers interpret the place of physiotherapy in such an acute, non-traditional setting.
Design
A qualitative investigation using a descriptive open-ended questionnaire technique was administered to emergency patients in order to thematically analyse their perceptions of emergency physiotherapy practice.
Setting
Case 1 was a metropolitan emergency department in Melbourne, Australia. Case 2 was a regional emergency department in North Queensland, Australia.
Participants
A purposeful, convenience sample of 80 emergency department patients (n=40, Case 1; n=40, Case 2) responded to the open-ended questionnaire.
Analysis
Data were thematically analysed using NVivo software and manual analysis, facilitating constant case comparison, and were reflected upon continually within an interpretivist framework.
Results
Participants at both emergency departments had a general, but limited, awareness of the role of physiotherapy. Among multiple themes identified were six key domains which participants could recognise as being both the role of general physiotherapy and also relevant to the emergency setting. These were sports injury management, musculoskeletal care, rehabilitation and mobility, pain management, respiratory care and management of elderly patients. Discussions also involved those areas that were specific to general physiotherapy practice or emergency department care but which did not overlap.
Conclusions
Participants in this study demonstrated a general, but limited, awareness of the scope of physiotherapy practice. There was strong identification of musculoskeletal-based interventions, with less familiarity with the potential role of physiotherapy in cardiorespiratory and rehabilitative management. Further research is needed on consumer awareness of the broader, less traditional roles of physiotherapy to increase acceptance and familiarity of its extended scope.
aDiscipline of Physiotherapy, School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
bUniversity of South Australia, School of Health Sciences, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia
ABSTRACT