Write a reflexivity and self reflection of an interview conducted by novel physiotherapist researcher from a physiotherapist participant on perception of physiotherapists about patient centre care (PCC) in the United arab Emirates ? So you have to write about researcher self awareness about the interview on PCC , what are researcher bias during the interview time , thoughts , weaknesses and preoccupied thoughts that affect the interview.
ANSWER
Physiotherapists provide quality care and improve patient interactions, but in some
countries, they lack a clear definition of patient-centered care. A researcher interviewed different
physiotherapists in the United Arab Emirates to identify their perceptions about patient-centered
therapy. Wijma et al., (2017) stated that the role of a physiotherapist is to provide personalized
treatment, initiating communication by use of the lay language, educate patients during the
examination and medication, and to align patients' defined objectives whereby they support the
patient and empower them through similar roles and understanding. Thus, this essay will reflect
on interviews that were conducted to understand the perceptions of physiotherapists concerning
patient-centered care in the UAE. The article will discuss the researcher's self-awareness about
the conversation, biases, thoughts, and preoccupied thoughts that affect the interview.
Interview 1 (Miss IR)
During the interview, the participant seems to understand the concept of patient-centered
care and asserted that, certain elements are essential to improve this concept, such as talking to
the patient and understanding medical history. Besides, the participants contented that an
excellent working relationship between all medical practitioners within a health care center is
essential to improve patient-centered care. However, the participant mentioned different
challenges during health care delivery, for instance, cost-effectiveness policies and transparency
objectives, and they feel that they are pressurized to improve productivity. Notably, Wijma et al.
(2017) opined that some physiotherapists are more patient-centered care, and they portray a
broad range of individual scores, thus showing an elastic style. However, others are not patient-
centered providers, and from the interview, they indicate an unchanging form. While
interviewing Miss IR, self-awareness of the researcher helped him to use clarification questions
to explain complex issues which are considered essential about patient-centered care, for
instance, "can you tell me how you facilitate patient-center care within an individual patient
treatment session?" Besides, the researcher used clarification questions on issues that did not
appear to be logical or confusing.
However, the interview was conducted in the hospital's cafeteria as this was the last
option, and there was a lot of noise and commotions that distracted the conversation. During the
interview, Miss. IR looked uncomfortable because of distraction, and this affected how she was
answering questions. The researcher was even forced to repeat questions so that the participant
can understand. Although the interview faced distraction, Miss IR noted that it is essential to
incorporate various elements that affect the patient care center to improve general health care, for
instance, going to the physician and explain the condition of a patient can work effectively. The
researcher analyzes questions keenly that enabled him to concentrate on a critical issue with a
professional physiotherapist. The interviewer wanted to understand how Miss IR feels and
understand the concept of patient-centered care and the problems faced in the modern world. The
researcher conducted his work well and explained the questions well to enable the participant to
clarify critical issues despite distractions at the cafeteria.
Interview 2 (Mr. S)
The conversation between Mr. S, who is a physiotherapist and the researcher portrays an
improved communication strategy that helped in addressing essential issues concerning patient-
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centered care in the United Arab Emirates. The researcher appears to have an improved plan to
approach Mr. S and ask relevant questions. Mr. S seems to understand the concept of patient-
centered care because of his sixteen years of experience working as a physiotherapist. Besides,
Mr. S contended that he started his career as a physiotherapist lecturer at a physiotherapist
college and, he worked for three years. Further, his expertise extended because he also worked as
a pediatrician, mostly working with neurological deficient kids who had conditions such as
cerebral palsy. Based on this information and his expertise, MR.S understood all the questions
asked during the interview and provided great ideas about the concept of patient-centered care
among physiotherapists in UAE. However, the researcher used questions to clarify contradictions
when Mr. S failed to understand or maybe misunderstood the questions. Mortari (2015) stated
that these types of questions comprise different subjects that emerge from the past interviews,
but in Mr. S case, the researcher used clarification questions when he seemed to contradict
himself from his previous responses and he was asked to clarify.
Similarly, McNair, Taft, and Hegarty (2008) defined reflexive actions as dynamic and
purposeful processes that critically analyze a practice, and through self-awareness, individuals
understand what they do and what limits such actions. The researcher used open-ended questions
that allowed Mr. S to provide in-depth responses about his perceptions of patient-centered care.
Also, the questions allowed him to be contented to freely express his thoughts rather than writing
answers on a closed-ended document. However, the interviewer does not appear to be biased in
his choice of questions, which created a calm environment for the research. Besides, the
interview occurred in a private room in a physiotherapy department, and this increased
contentment of the interviewee to answer questions without distraction. The private room
provided an active and joint engagement between the researcher and Mr. S and, Liberati et al.
(2015) stated that, mutual engagement between an interviewer and interviewee helps to
disentangle and bring to the surface the implicit understanding in daily care services and change
it into practical knowledge. Lastly, the researcher used a critical thinking style to ask Mr. S how
physiotherapists deal with patients who are in pain, and he said that if an individual is in pain,
their initial plan is to reduce it.
Interview 3 (Mr. SJ)
The interviewer shows that he has improved his communication skills because of how he
professionally approach Mr. SJ by going direct to the point without asking personal and biased
questions. On the other hand, Mr. SJ is comfortable to even state his years after providing his
professional background. The entire conversation between the researcher and Mr. SJ focuses on
every active area of patient-centered care and how they implement it where he works. The
researcher does not show any bias while interviewing Mr. SJ and, this helps to maintain
professionalism and a cool research atmosphere. Besides, the interview was conducted in a
private room at the department of physiotherapy, and this prevented distractions and improved
joint engagement between the researcher and Mr. SJ. The conversation proves that Mr. SJ has a
brilliant strategy to treat patients, and it entails both physical and mental awareness of the
patients and other factors that may affect the results. Mr. SJ states that for clients visiting the
clinic, they assess them and treat the problem detected; for instance, if a patient has back pain,
they first treat that problem presented.
Furthermore, the researcher does not show any weakness during this interview, and his
preoccupied thoughts about patient-centered care enable him to ask unbiased professional
questions. The researcher utilizes his knowledge well to ask in-depth questions about patient-
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centered care, for instance, asking Mr. SJ to clarify if they listen to patient history during
assessments.
In conclusion, the work of the interviewer improved during his research because of
adjusting his communication skills and how to approach participants. Therefore, the study has a
significant strength, which is the depth, and although the questions are standard to all
interviewees, it was comfortable to ask anything related to the subject matter beyond the general
questions that had already been prepared. Thus, the outcomes of the research might be valid
because of the data collection method that permitted the researcher to broadly assess the
perception of physiotherapists about patient-centered care in the UAE.