The meaning of physiotherapy : experiences of parents of young adults with impairment

Abstract: The overall aim of this thesis is to increase the understanding of the meaning of physiotherapy when fathering and mothering a child with impairment. The research has been focused on parents’ experiences of their participation in physiotherapy training of their child. The research focus and research methods have gradually changed from a more quantitative approach to a more qualitative approach as the understanding and knowledge progressed. The first two studies were questionnaires sent to parents of 49 and 105 parents respectively of children with impairment, all with contacts with physiotherapists. The third investigation comprised semi-structured qualitative interviews with strategically selected parents of 22 children, interviews that were analysed in a descriptive way. These interviews were then reanalysed, applying a hermeneutic-phenomenological method to three papers, evolving and proceeding step-by-step, from the first paper with a case analysis, in the second paper with the focus on parents of 17 young adults with experiences of Vojta physiotherapy, and finally in the third paper, with the focus on the experiences of physiotherapy of fathers’ and mothers’ of 22 young adults. The findings indicated that both fathers and mothers participated in physiotherapy. The Vojta physiotherapy was experienced as hard work but could also create a sense of hope. The meaning of physiotherapy was understood through three relations: (1) the fathers’ and mothers’ relation to the child, (2) the fathers’ and mothers’ relation to physiotherapists and (3) the fathers’ and mothers’ relation to the practice of physiotherapy. There is a need to consider whether movement or merely a body perspective should be the ontological base for clinical practice in physiotherapy for persons with impairment.