Teaching person-centred practice in physiotherapy curricula: a literature review

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a growing expectation that healthcare should focus on the needs of the individual patient with the philosophy of person-centred practice as the central model for care delivery. Given the importance of person-centred practice, there is a need to understand how curricula are preparing physiotherapy students for working in a person-centred manner. ObjectivesThe aim of this literature review was to explore empirical studies relating to educational interventions to teach person-centred practice in physiotherapy pre-qualifying curricula. MethodsA systematic search was conducted across six electronic bibliographic databases to identify relevant studies. Data were extracted and analysed with thematic and narrative synthesis. ResultsA total of 1621 studies were identified through the search strategy and screened against the inclusion/ exclusion criteria. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria (five qualitative, two quantitative, and one mixed methods). Three themes were identified from the student perspective on the educational interventions: positive impact on learning; creating a safe, authentic, personcentred learning environment; and challenges in changing views. Quantitative studies suggested the interventions enhanced learning on person-centred practice. ConclusionsA wide range of educational interventions were used to teach person-centred practice which appeared to have a positive impact on student learning and led to a greater sensitivity of personcentred practice. Further research is needed to understand whether educational interventions to teach person-centred practice translate to changed behaviour in clinical practice to the benefits of those receiving physiotherapy services.