Opinions of physiotherapists at the University Teaching Hospital on assessing the psychological well-being of patients with stroke: A qualitative study

Abstract

Patients with stroke often encounter psychological challenges because of the disabilities and loss of independence resulting from the condition. However, these psychological problems are frequently overlooked or under-reported during stroke rehabilitation by physiotherapists. Hence, this study explored the opinions of physiotherapists at the University Teaching Hospital on assessing the psychological well-being of patients with stroke. A qualitative phenomenological study design was used, and data were collected through in-depth interviews with physiotherapists at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka. Ten physiotherapists identified through purposive sampling participated in the in-depth interviews. The analysis was performed using Atlas.ti version 22 software. Thematic analysis was conducted using an inductive approach. Ten semi-structured in-depth interviews with physiotherapists working in the stroke unit identified four themes: psychological assessment as part of stroke care in physiotherapy practice, assessing the psychological well-being of patients after stroke, confidence, and competence in psychological assessment, and professional development needs. The psychological well-being of patients is inconsistently assessed by physiotherapists because of lack of standard guidelines, lack of confidence, lack of competence and inadequate training. This underscores the need to revise the physiotherapy training curriculum, integrate psychological approaches in stroke care, and revise the scope of practice to address current gaps in practice.