Abstract
Introduction: Despite telehealth interventions for delivering exercise and education becoming increasingly common, the development of therapeutic relationship (TR) in online interventions for rotator cuff tendinopathy has been underexplored.
Objectives: To explore the views of physiotherapists and patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy about the influence of TR on patient outcomes during an exercise and education intervention delivered via telehealth.
Methods: This qualitative study was nested within a randomized clinical trial. All physiotherapists (n=10) delivering the intervention and patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy completing the intervention over 12 weeks were invited to participate. Purposive sampling was used to ensure maximum variability in the patient sample. Patients were selected based on geographical location and exercise adherence. Sampling continued until no new concepts were identified in interview debriefings. Interviews were conducted online via Zoom and transcribed verbatim for data analysis. Inductive thematic analysis was performed. All researchers discussed each theme/subtheme and came to a shared interpretation of the data. NVivo was used for data management.
Results: Seven physiotherapists and 18 patients were interviewed. Both patients and physiotherapists acknowledged the positive influence of TR on patient understanding and confidence, exercise engagement, patient safety, and general improvements in patient condition. Patients were enthusiastic about TR development over telehealth overall. Physiotherapists were less enthusiastic as they found challenging managing time to develop the TR and delivering technical information to patients in the telehealth and group context.
Conclusions: Therapeutic relationship developed over telehealth was perceived by patients and physiotherapists as important for enhancing outcomes of patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy. Building the therapeutic relationship over telehealth can be challenging for physiotherapists.
Objectives: To explore the views of physiotherapists and patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy about the influence of TR on patient outcomes during an exercise and education intervention delivered via telehealth.
Methods: This qualitative study was nested within a randomized clinical trial. All physiotherapists (n=10) delivering the intervention and patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy completing the intervention over 12 weeks were invited to participate. Purposive sampling was used to ensure maximum variability in the patient sample. Patients were selected based on geographical location and exercise adherence. Sampling continued until no new concepts were identified in interview debriefings. Interviews were conducted online via Zoom and transcribed verbatim for data analysis. Inductive thematic analysis was performed. All researchers discussed each theme/subtheme and came to a shared interpretation of the data. NVivo was used for data management.
Results: Seven physiotherapists and 18 patients were interviewed. Both patients and physiotherapists acknowledged the positive influence of TR on patient understanding and confidence, exercise engagement, patient safety, and general improvements in patient condition. Patients were enthusiastic about TR development over telehealth overall. Physiotherapists were less enthusiastic as they found challenging managing time to develop the TR and delivering technical information to patients in the telehealth and group context.
Conclusions: Therapeutic relationship developed over telehealth was perceived by patients and physiotherapists as important for enhancing outcomes of patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy. Building the therapeutic relationship over telehealth can be challenging for physiotherapists.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2023 |
| Event | International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium 2023 - Valencia, Spain Duration: 10 Nov 2023 → 11 Nov 2023 Conference number: 6th https://international.colfisiocv.com/en/tendinopathy-symposium/ |
Conference
| Conference | International Scientific Tendinopathy Symposium 2023 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ISTS 2023 |
| Country/Territory | Spain |
| City | Valencia |
| Period | 10/11/23 → 11/11/23 |
| Internet address |