Physiotherapists Description of Patient-Centered Care, and Barriers and Facilitators Experienced to Implementation
Abstract
Patient-centered care (PCC) is a growing standard for healthcare delivery due to the benefits to patient autonomy. Lacking a cohesive definition in the physiotherapy literature, it is also lacking in implementation. Employing interpretive description with semi-structured interviews, the goal was to understand how physiotherapists drawn from private for-profit clinics in Canada describe PCC, and barriers and facilitators to providing it. Results included requiring person-centered communication in PCC, seeing Health holistically, centering the patient in care, and being a skill that becomes clearer with practice experience. Barriers included: lack of practitioner reflexivity, patient not desiring self-directed care, and limited access to interprofessional care. Facilitators included: time available with patient, practice community support, learning from experience, continued education, and practitioner emotional resilience. Results display how PCC is described by participants from private physiotherapy care in Canada, and inform us on further exploration around how to best facilitated PCC in Canada.