A qualitative study of the dementia-care experiences and educational needs of physiotherapists in the Republic of Ireland

Foley, Tony; Sheehan, Cormac; Jennings, Aisling A.; O'Sullivan, Trish

A qualitative study of the dementia-care experiences and educational needs of physiotherapists in the Republic of Ireland

dc.contributor.author	Foley, Tony
dc.contributor.author	Sheehan, Cormac
dc.contributor.author	Jennings, Aisling A.
dc.contributor.author	O'Sullivan, Trish
dc.contributor.funder	Health Service Executive	en
dc.contributor.funder	Atlantic Philanthropies	en
dc.date.accessioned	2019-10-06T20:22:55Z
dc.date.available	2019-10-06T20:22:55Z
dc.date.issued	2019-08-09
dc.description.abstract	Objectives: Gait disturbance and impaired balance lead to a greater risk of falls and hip fractures for people with dementia. Physiotherapists play an important role in multidisciplinary dementia care. This study aimed to explore physiotherapists’ experiences of dementia care and sought to identify their dementia-specific educational needs. Design: Qualitative design, using focus group interviews. Setting: Primary care and secondary care physiotherapy services in the Republic of Ireland. Participants: Six focus groups with thirty-two physiotherapists, working in community care and hospital settings. Results: Physiotherapists described a significant dementia-related workload. Challenges to care included absence of a formal diagnosis, clinical uncertainty, scarcity of resources, physical working environment and the assessment of rehabilitation potential. Dementia care was enhanced by the involvement of family members and by collaboration with other allied healthcare professionals. Participants expressed a wish to receive further dementia training and clear evidence-based physiotherapy guidelines. Identified areas of educational need included enhanced communication techniques, use and interpretation of cognitive screening tools, sub-typing of dementia, and ethical issues in dementia care. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that physiotherapists remain challenged by complex aspects of dementia care. Tailored dementia training for physiotherapists should be developed, focusing on their educational needs. Delivery of training should incorporate interactive case-based activities and interprofessional education with other allied healthcare professionals.	en
dc.description.status	Peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Published Version	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	Foley, T., Sheehan, C., Jennings, A. A. and O’Sullivan, T. (2019) 'A qualitative study of the dementia-care experiences and educational needs of physiotherapists in the Republic of Ireland', Physiotherapy. [In press] (29pp.) DOI: 10.1016/j.physio.2019.08.006	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1016/j.physio.2019.08.006	en
dc.identifier.eissn	1873-1465
dc.identifier.endpage	29	en
dc.identifier.issn	0031-9406
dc.identifier.journaltitle	Physiotherapy	en
dc.identifier.startpage	1	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/8689
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier	en
dc.relation.uri	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031940619300987?via%3Dihub
dc.rights	©2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)	en
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/	en
dc.subject	Dementia	en
dc.subject	Physiotherapy	en
dc.subject	Education	en
dc.subject	Qualitative research	en
dc.subject	Focus groups	en
dc.title	A qualitative study of the dementia-care experiences and educational needs of physiotherapists in the Republic of Ireland	en
dc.type	Article (peer-reviewed)	en