NL
Coach2Move is a person-centered approach for physical therapists working with frail elderly people living at home. In previous research, Coach2Move has shown that it can achieve better results in fewer treatment sessions that stay on over a longer period of time compared to regular physical therapy care. The cost of care was similar. This study focuses on implementation outcomes at the physical therapist and practice levels. Participating physical therapists were tested on their level of knowledge of Motivational Interviewing and person-centered care before and after training in Coach2Move. Although there is room for improvement, scores were significantly improved. To evaluate compliance with Coach2Move, electronic health records were tested on performance indicators for person-centered care. Improvement was also observed on these indicators. In this, differences were found between specialized geriatric physiotherapists and physiotherapists without specialization working with the elderly.
To further evaluate the implementation, questionnaires were administered to the participating physical therapists. This showed that the physical therapists found the Coach2Move approach a valuable addition to their competencies and that they experienced it as positive to work with the approach. They indicated that it is essential for future implementation in the field to properly arrange the external financing by health insurers in the practice and that it is important to streamline the logistics within practices. The intake of new clients is an important part of the Coach2Move approach, and it is often scheduled by administrative staff. So it is important that they are able to properly identify whether someone is eligible for Coach2Move physical therapy.
Although there is room for improvement, the researchers conclude that the implementation achieved positive outcomes in terms of person-centered care by Coach2Move-trained physical therapists. Future implementation should focus on securing and arranging external funding from health insurers.
Ward Heij is a guest researcher at IQ Health and will defend his dissertation on Oct. 15 at RU Nijmegen.
Read the article here in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Journal:
Ward Heij, MSc, PT, Lieke Sweerts, MSc, PT, J Bart Staal, PhD, PT, Philip J Wees, PhD, PT, Anne Thackeray, PhD, PT, Maria W G Nijhuis-van der Sanden, PhD, PT, Thomas J Hoogeboom, PhD, PT: Implementing the Effective Coach2Move Approach for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Mobility Limitations in Physical Therapist Practice: A Multi-Methods Process Evaluation.