Parents’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives on manual therapy in infants: A mixed-methods study

Objectives Manual therapy in infants is embedded in Dutch healthcare despite inconsistent evidence and ongoing debate about its safety and merits. This study examines decision-making in manual therapy in infants and explores parents’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives on this treatment approach. Methods This mixed-methods study consisted of an online survey among manual physiotherapists and paediatric physiotherapists exploring decision-making on manual therapy in infants and interprofessional collaboration. These data prompted further exploration and were combined with data collected with semi-structured interviews exploring parents’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives. Interviews were analysed using an inductive content analysis approach. Results 607 manual physiotherapists and 388 paediatric physiotherapists completed the online survey; 45% and 95% indicated they treat infants, respectively. Collaboration was reported by 46% of manual physiotherapists and 64% of paediatric physiotherapists for postural asymmetry, positional preference, upper cervical dysfunction, excessive crying, anxiety or restlessness. Reasons to not treat or collaborate were: limited professional competence, practice policy, not perceiving added value, lack of evidence and fear of complications. Analysis of interviews with 7 parents, 9 manual physiotherapists, 7 paediatric physiotherapists, 5 paediatricians and 2 maternity nurses revealed that knowledge and beliefs, professional norms, interpersonal relation, treatment experiences and emotions of parents influenced attitudes and decision-making towards choosing for manual therapy in infants. Conclusion Parents’ and healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards manual therapy in infants can be divided as ‘in favour’ or ‘against’. Those who experienced a good interpersonal relation with a manual physiotherapist and positive treatment outcomes reported positive attitudes. Lack of evidence, treatment experience and related knowledge, safety issues due to publications on adverse events and professional norms led to negative attitudes. Despite lacking evidence, positive treatment experiences, good interpersonal relation and parents feeling frustrated and despaired can overrule negative attitudes and directly influence the decision-making process and choosing for manual therapy treatment

Parents' and healthcare professionals' perspectives on manual therapy in infants: A mixed-methods study.

ObjectivesManual therapy in infants is embedded in Dutch healthcare despite inconsistent evidence and ongoing debate about its safety and merits. This study examines decision-making in manual therapy in infants and explores parents' and healthcare professionals' perspectives on this treatment approach.MethodsThis mixed-methods study consisted of an online survey among manual physiotherapists and paediatric physiotherapists exploring decision-making on manual therapy in infants and interprofessional collaboration. These data prompted further exploration and were combined with data collected with semi-structured interviews exploring parents' and healthcare professionals' perspectives. Interviews were analysed using an inductive content analysis approach.Results607 manual physiotherapists and 388 paediatric physiotherapists completed the online survey; 45% and 95% indicated they treat infants, respectively. Collaboration was reported by 46% of manual physiotherapists and 64% of paediatric physiotherapists for postural asymmetry, positional preference, upper cervical dysfunction, excessive crying, anxiety or restlessness. Reasons to not treat or collaborate were: limited professional competence, practice policy, not perceiving added value, lack of evidence and fear of complications. Analysis of interviews with 7 parents, 9 manual physiotherapists, 7 paediatric physiotherapists, 5 paediatricians and 2 maternity nurses revealed that knowledge and beliefs, professional norms, interpersonal relation, treatment experiences and emotions of parents influenced attitudes and decision-making towards choosing for manual therapy in infants.ConclusionParents' and healthcare professionals' attitudes towards manual therapy in infants can be divided as 'in favour' or 'against'. Those who experienced a good interpersonal relation with a manual physiotherapist and positive treatment outcomes reported positive attitudes. Lack of evidence, treatment experience and related knowledge, safety issues due to publications on adverse events and professional norms led to negative attitudes. Despite lacking evidence, positive treatment experiences, good interpersonal relation and parents feeling frustrated and despaired can overrule negative attitudes and directly influence the decision-making process and choosing for manual therapy treatment

Feasibility of peer assessment and clinical audit to self-regulate the quality of physiotherapy services:a mixed methods study

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility of a quality improvement programme aimed to enhance the client-centeredness, effectiveness and transparency of physiotherapy services by addressing three feasibility domains: (1) acceptability of the programme design, (2) appropriateness of the implementation strategy and (3) impact on quality improvement. DESIGN: Mixed methods study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 64 physiotherapists working in primary care, organised in a network of communities of practice in the Netherlands. METHODS: The programme contained: (1) two cycles of online self-assessment and peer assessment (PA) of clinical performance using client records and video-recordings of client communication followed by face-to-face group discussions, and (2) clinical audit assessing organisational performance. Assessment was based on predefined performance indicators which could be scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Discussions addressed performance standards and scoring differences. All feasibility domains were evaluated qualitatively with two focus groups and 10 in-depth interviews. In addition, we evaluated the impact on quality improvement quantitatively by comparing self-assessment and PA scores in cycles 1 and 2. RESULTS: We identified critical success features relevant to programme development and implementation, such as clarifying expectations at baseline, training in PA skills, prolonged engagement with video-assessment and competent group coaches. Self-reported impact on quality improvement included awareness of clinical and organisational performance, improved evidence-based practice and client-centeredness and increased motivation to self-direct quality improvement. Differences between self-scores and peer scores on performance indicators were not significant. Between cycles 1 and 2, scores for record keeping showed significant improvement, however not for client communication. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that bottom-up initiatives to improve healthcare quality can be effective. The results justify ongoing evaluation to inform nationwide implementation when the critical success features are addressed. Further research is necessary to explore the sustainability of the results and the impact on client outcomes in a full-scale study