Physiotherapy
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Observational Study
Specific timely appointments for triage reduced waiting lists in an outpatient physiotherapy service.
Waiting lists with triage systems are commonly used in outpatient physiotherapy but may not be effective. Could an alternative model of access and triage reduce waiting times over a sustained period with no additional resources? ⋯ Waiting time for outpatient physiotherapy was 22% lower in the year following the introduction of the STAT model. While acknowledging the limitations of a pre- and post-measurement design, this model may have potential for reducing waiting times for outpatient physiotherapy without additional resources.
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The culture of current clinical practice calls for collaboration between therapists and patients, sharing power and responsibility. This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study of exercise prescription for patients with NSCLBP, taking into account issues such as decision making and how this accords with patient preferences and experiences. ⋯ Shared decision making did not appear to happen in physiotherapy clinical practice, but equally may not be what every patient wants. The overall feeling of the patients was that the therapist was dominant in structuring the interactions, leaving the patients feeling disempowered to question and contribute to the decision making.