Stroke Rehabilitation: The Physical Therapy Profession

The physical therapy profession has critically emphasized the importance of incorporating patient preferences and priorities, a core component of evidence-based practice, throughout the rehabilitation process.1 Although patient priorities and preferences are taken into account during direct patient care, there appears to be a lack of patient input at the level of research. A review of the current rehabilitation literature for individuals with chronic stroke demonstrates a paucity of patient opinions or preferences within rehabilitation or intervention research. The incorporation of qualitative research will assist in filling this void – giving voices to those who participate in rehabilitation research, rather than using quantitative analysis alone in determining the success of the intervention.
Although the majority of literature on stroke rehabilitation is quantitative, you will find a small number of qualitative studies. Unfortunately these qualitative …show more content…
An “experience” may range from individual thoughts on living with stroke to attending the Super Bowl – either way, individuals are free to express their perceptions of the experience. This method has specific relevance to rehabilitation and, even more specifically, to stroke rehabilitation. As Goldberg11 states, “It can be argued that rehabilitation practice is rooted in patient experience and that experiential aspects, including patient perception and expectations are of ultimate importance to rehabilitation.” A phenomenological approach offers opportunities to describe and interpret personal accounts of an experience, a vital component to the growth and success of evidenced based practice and rehabilitation for individuals with chronic