Patient education and basic body awareness therapy in hip osteoarthritis – a qualitative study of patients’ movement learning experiences

Abstract

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with pain, dysfunction and reduced quality of life. Patient education (PE) followed by 12 weekly sessions of Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) was offered to patients with hip OA, aiming to strengthen their ability to move and act functionally in daily life.

Aim: To explore how patients described their experiences and outcome from participating in PE and BBAT.

Method: Individual, semi-structured interviews with five patients, aged 52-78 years, were performed after PE and BBAT at four and ten months. Interview data were analyzed by systematic text condensation.

Results: Three main themes emerged. “Becoming motivated and involved” reflected experiences of encouragement and support from information given and communication with group members. In “Movement awareness learning” patients described becoming aware of and improving functional movement, alleviating symptoms and increasing daily functioning. “Movement and disease in a long-term perspective” reflected patientś experience of increased self-awareness and taking better care of themselves at 10 months after baseline. Practicing basic movement principles, they felt empowered to handle daily life challenges in more functional and energy-economical ways.

Conclusion: PE followed by BBAT in groups may be beneficial to patients with hip OA, and provide lasting benefits regarding daily life function.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Insight into disease process and relationship to functional movement gained through patient education may empower patients with hip osteoarthritis in management of daily life

• Movement awareness and exploration of movement quality using principles from Basic Body Awareness Therapy was found to support patients in finding resources for functional movement, implemented in daily actions

• Movement strategies characterized by adjustment rather than force was experienced by the patients to support their general functioning, despite of prevailing hip pain

• Implementing group therapeutic factors (Yalom) in physiotherapy was found to strengthen patients’ motivation and belief in functional improvement

Keywords:

• Hip osteoarthritis
• movement awareness
• basic body awareness therapy
• patient education
• physiotherapy

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding

The study received financial support from the Norwegian Fund for Post-graduate Training in Physiotherapy.