Orthopaedic physiotherapists’ perceptions of mechanisms for observed variation in the implementation of physiotherapy practices in the early postoperative phase after hip fracture: a UK qualitative study

Volkmer, Brittannia, Sadler, Euan, Lambe, Kate, Martin, Finbarr, Ayis, Salma, Beaupre, Lauren, Cameron, Ian, Gregson, Celia, Johansen, Antony, Tange Kristensen, Morten, Magaziner, Jay, Sackley, Catherine, Smith, Toby ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1673-2954, Sobolev, Boris and Sheehan, Katie (2021) Orthopaedic physiotherapists’ perceptions of mechanisms for observed variation in the implementation of physiotherapy practices in the early postoperative phase after hip fracture: a UK qualitative study. Age and Ageing, 50 (6). 1961–1970. ISSN 0002-0729

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Abstract

Objective: To explore physiotherapists’ perceptions of mechanisms to explain observed variation in early postoperative practice after hip fracture surgery demonstrated in a national audit. Methods: A qualitative semi-structured interview study of 21 physiotherapists working on orthopaedic wards at 7 hospitals with different durations of physiotherapy during a recent audit. Thematic analysis of interviews drawing on Normalisation Process Theory to aid interpretation of findings. Results: Four themes were identified: achieving protocolised and personalised care; patient and carer engagement; multidisciplinary team engagement across the care continuum; and strategies for service improvement. Most expressed variation from protocol was legitimate when driven by what is deemed clinically appropriate for a given patient. This tailored approach was deemed essential to optimise patient and carer engagement. Participants reported inconsistent degrees of engagement from the multidisciplinary team attributing this to competing workload priorities, interpreting ‘postoperative physiotherapy’ as a single professional activity rather than a care delivery approach, plus lack of integration between hospital and community care. All participants recognised changes needed at both structural and process levels to improve their services. Conclusions: Physiotherapists highlighted an inherent conflict between their intention to deliver protocolised care while allowing for an individual patient-tailored approach. This conflict has implications for how audit results should be interpreted, how future clinical guidelines are written, and how physiotherapists are trained. Physiotherapists also described additional factors explaining variation in practice which may be addressed through increased engagement of the multidisciplinary team and resources for additional staffing and advanced clinical roles.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Early title: Physiotherapists’ perceptions of mechanisms for observed variation in the implementation of physiotherapy practices in the early postoperative phase after hip fracture: a UK qualitative study.
Uncontrolled Keywords: acute care,audit,fracture neck of femur,normalisation process theory,older people,rehabilitation,ageing,geriatrics and gerontology ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1300/1302
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Population Health
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 13 May 2021 16:24
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2023 02:58
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/80000
DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afab131

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