6533b853fe1ef96bd12aca01

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Guidance strategies and motor modelling in physiotherapy

subject

description

Patient education is an important aspect of physiotherapy. Supporting and developing patients' self-motivation and activity requires efficient education during the practice period. Physiotherapists use predominantly verbal instruction and demonstration in their teaching activities. The aim of this study was to investigate how physiotherapists organise their therapeutic interventions in order to facilitate patients' learning. This was done by studying the ways in which physiotherapists provide their patients with the mental and motoric imagery pertaining to the action to be performed using verbal, visual and manual guidance. The study was undertaken at three hospitals in southern Finland. Five physiotherapists and seven patients with a variety of disorders were studied. Systematic observation was used to determine the physiotherapists' verbal, visual and manual guidance and the patients' verbal and physical responses. The results show that the physiotherapists made extensive use of verbal and manual guidan...