The influence of contextual factors on an intervention for people with disabilities from support persons' and health personnel's perspectives: a focus group study.
Anette Granberg, Lars-Olov Lundqvist, Anna Duberg and 1 others
PMID 38751820WHAT IT FOUND
Support persons and health personnel said water dance sessions for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities were feasible and acceptable when managers protected time, training and clear roles were provided, and the same support person stayed with the participant.
Key findings
01Support persons and health personnel linked intervention feasibility to manager support, time, resources and practical problems such as transport delays.
02Informants said the intervention was more relevant and acceptable when they perceived its repeated structure, joy of movement and positive interaction as beneficial for the person with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities.
03Having the same support person across sessions helped collaboration and the participant's experience, while unclear roles and uneven leadership could make sessions stressful.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 34 of the 43 invited informants took part, and some declined because of workload or did not respond. The informants knew the researchers were part of the team behind the intervention, so praise may have been influenced by gratitude. Focus groups may not have reached the depth of individual interviews, and some informants may have been less open because others were listening. Questions were sent in advance, which may have limited spontaneous responses. Two support person groups had only two participants, and all seven health personnel were discussed in one group. The findings come from one intervention in Swedish adult habilitation centres, so they may not transfer to other healthcare settings.
Declared interests
The study received funding from the Regional Research Council in the Uppsala-Orebro Region (grant 930222) and the Research Committee of Region Orebro County (grant 996653). The paper does not report commercial funding or other author conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that SWAN improves outcomes for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. This paper reports support persons' and health personnel's experiences of context, not patient outcomes.