Patients should be allowed to participate in planning their rehabilitation

Jul 4 2011

Results from an MPH thesis show that patients want to participate in planning their own rehabilitation, together with therapists and clinicians. This ensures them control and overview during their rehabilitation process.

"Professionals should give the patient room for participation," says Hanne Vest Hansen, nursing specialist.

Her study shows that in a prolonged rehabilitation process for spinal cord injured patients, patient participation in patient conferences can be very helpful and provide great support for the patients. Patient conferences can contribute to the experience of control and overview in a chaotic situation.

The initial rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury is often longstanding and implicates severe demands on the patients. Multiple, lifelong and substantial disabilities often follow spinal cord injuries. To support the rehabilitation process all patients and their relatives are invited to participate in planning their own rehabilitation at interdisciplinary patient conferences.

In her study, Hanne Vest Hansen looked into the patients' experiences of the conferences, and what this experience meant to them. The study shows that even the newly spinal cord injured- and grieving patients actively wanted to participate in decisions about their rehabilitation. The patients and their relatives also experienced the conferences as supportive in an otherwise chaotic situation. Participation creates motivation and helps to maintain integrity.

The patients furthermore experienced emotional vulnerability and needed emotional help from both the interdisciplinary team and relatives. Having relatives present was seen as supportive when it came to remembering important questions and answers. Some patients also found that the attendance of relatives at the conferences was an opportunity and great help for updating the relatives about vital and critical information.

The atmosphere, intimacy and location of the patient conferences were of critical importance to the patients, and they preferred that only the regular daily team attended. The patient conferences were considered as a necessity in the rehabilitation process.