15-3 Examining the Factors Affecting Willingness of Physiotherapists

Examining the Factors Affecting Willingness of Physiotherapists to Perform Group Treatment in General
and Specifically with the Elderly
Dvora Dedy, Prof. Perla Werner

Abstract

Background: Physiotherapy clinics within the community must cope with overcrowding, partially from recurring visits of older patients who suffer from pain and disabilities.  One of the ways to make service provision more efficient is to use group therapy.

Goal: The present research aimed to examine the willingness of physiotherapists to perform physiotherapy with elderly patients in a group setting and the factors which affect this decision, usinga theoretical framework comprised of the Theory of Planned Behavior and Knowledge expanded to include the concept of "self-efficacy".

Method: A cross-sectional survey was performed on data obtained from a structured questionnaire, which was completed by physiotherapists recruited through a nonprobability convenience sampling. Participants included 200 physiotherapists working in physiotherapy clinics within the community and at hospitals of the General Health Services HMO in Israel.

Results : In general, physiotherapists’ willingness to perform physiotherapy with elderly patients in a group setting was high. An examination of the dual-variable correlations between the components of the model and the willingness of physiotherapists to perform group therapy indicated a significant and particularly strong correlation between the independent variables of self-efficacy, attitudes, and control ability and participants’willingness to perform physiotherapy in a group setting.
Multiple step regression analysis found that self-efficacy and attitudes predicted willingness to perform group physiotherapy with elderly patients and explained 60% of the variance.
Conclusions
The willingness of physiotherapists to perform physiotherapy in a group setting was high, and was affected mainly by participants’ attitudes and sense of self efficacy.

Key words: physical activity, group therapy, expanded planning behavior theory & knowledge.