Patient empowerment in rehabilitation: “Somebody told me to get rehabilitated”

Abstract

Within healthcare, there is a growing interest in patient influence and participation. The aim of this study is to describe patients’ experience of participation in and influence on rehabilitation with the focus on physiotherapy. Interviews with patients from three different primary healthcare centres were conducted. The result indicated low patient participation in and influence on the rehabilitation process within the hospital. The informants trusted the competence of the caregivers and tried to be as compliant as possible. Their experiences were that training must be supported and followed up. Information about rights was requested. The informants felt that they were listened to and confirmed by the physiotherapists. The positive attitude was combined with low demands and a great feeling of gratitude as a matter of course. Using information and support from the physiotherapist, together with friends and next of kin, the informants had learned to cope with the new situation. In this paper, these results are understood and described in terms of the parallel process of rehabilitation, based on traditional and individual models, and implying that the patient copes with the situation by shifting between being compliant and adopting more self-regulatory behaviour, for example. Attitudes are changing in society and this study reflects the patient of today, and is confirmed by recent studies.

• Decision making
• empowerment
• participation
• patient-centred
• physiotherapy
• rehabilitation process