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Student Voices: What are the barriers to Effective Physiotherapeutic Engagement with Patients with Dementia?

Sarin, Beverly and Johnson, Hannah Rachel 2010. Student Voices: What are the barriers to Effective Physiotherapeutic Engagement with Patients with Dementia? Presented at: The 3rd International Conference of Physiotherapists in Psychiatry and Mental Health, Lund, Sweden, 3-5 February 2010.

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Abstract

Purpose To investigate Undergraduate (UG) Physiotherapists’ experiences and perceptions of the development of their professional practice in the therapeutic management of patients with dementia. To identify the barriers to and enablers of this development based on student commentaries to support professional development at UG level. Relevance In 2004 19% of the UK population was aged over 65 years old. This is expected to rise to 23% by 2031. At present 5% of this age group suffer from dementia, thus this number is set to rise. Due to this expected rise in the elderly population, the physiotherapist of the future must be ready to manage the potentially increasing number of elderly patients with dementia they will encounter during their practice. There is a lack of research exploring either physiotherapists’ ability to effectively manage patients with dementia or how UG Physiotherapy Education should be developed to address this issue. This study acts as an initial investigation into the issue of therapeutic management of patients with dementia from the undergraduate physiotherapists’ perspective. Participants & Methodology A convenience sample of four 3rd Year BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy students from Cardiff University participated in a 45 minute, semi-structured Focus Group discussion. All participants had gained some experience of engagement with patients with dementia during their previous six 4-week clinical placements. Ethical approval was gained through Cardiff University Ethical Committee. Informed consent was gained prior to the study. Analysis & Results Results were thematically analysed providing messages about the areas of: Knowledge and Perceptions (Foundation of Practice Development), Barriers to Engagement, and Strategies (Identified and Applied) Conclusions The students illustrated a diversity of contexts for their engagement with patients with dementia. Knowledge of pathology and experience of specialist clinical placements were felt to be of great importance in the development of understanding and the gaining of confidence to enable the necessary effective holistic engagement with patients with dementia. Barriers to the development of effective practice included the emotional consequences of working with these patients and their carers; difficulties with patient behaviours; the negative effect of the hospital environment; communication difficulties and lack of comprehension by patients; and the perceived lack of importance of this condition evidenced by non inclusion in generic placement assessment and negative clinical educator attitude. Strategies developed included clarity and appropriateness of explanation and instruction; flexibility to approach to engagement, assessment and treatment; holistic management; structured organised engagement; and documentation of successful strategies and responses. Implications Despite the small sample, this study indicates that further research and a drive for professional awareness and development in the therapeutic management of patients with Dementia is still vitally needed to aid in the professional development of the physiotherapists of the future.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type: Completion
Status: Unpublished
Schools: Healthcare Sciences
Subjects: R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology
Uncontrolled Keywords: Dementia; Professional development; Barriers
Last Modified: 08 Jan 2020 04:53
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/15347

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