Clinical supervision of physiotherapists in Singapore: A mixed methods exploration

Clinical supervision has been a part of physiotherapy for as long as the profession has existed. It is now expected and required by the Allied Health Professions Council (AHPC) of Singapore. Despite this, the clinical supervision of physiotherapists in Singapore has been largely unexamined. Therefore, this study examines the effectiveness of clinical supervision and explores the phenomenon of clinical supervision of physiotherapists and how they perceive and experience clinical supervision as it occurs in Singapore. Pragmatist and constructivist-interpretivist epistemological perspectives and a mixed sequential qualitative-dominant status mixed methods research design (quantitative → QUALITATIVE) were used to guide and conduct this study. Phase 1 of the study generated quantitative data that involved the administration of the Manchester Clinical Supervision Scale© 26-items version (MCSS-26©) survey tool to examine the physiotherapists’ perceived effectiveness of clinical supervision. Of the approximate 1,892 registered physiotherapists, 301 responded to the survey (response rate of 15.9%). Phase 2 of the study generated qualitative data via individual semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 30 physiotherapists who participated in Phase 1 of the study to explore their experiences with clinical supervision and the aspects of supervision they perceived to be effective. The mean total MCSS-26© survey score was 70 (SD = 10.3; 95% CI [68.8, 71.1]), below the recommended threshold score of 73 for effective clinical supervision. Thus, in general, the clinical supervision received by physiotherapists working in Singapore across different work settings and job designations was perceived to be marginally ineffective. The qualitative interviews revealed that physiotherapists in Singapore perceived clinical supervision was most effective when it focused on addressing their specific learning needs and that physiotherapists preferred supervisory styles that best suited their learning styles and desire for practice autonomy. The challenge of finding time for clinical supervision is consistent with the convergence of both quantitative and qualitative data. A working definition and a conceptual framework for the clinical supervision of physiotherapists were also constructed based on the study’s findings to guide best practices for effective clinical supervision. To date, this dissertation is the first study to be conducted to explore the phenomenon of clinical supervision of practicing physiotherapists in Singapore. It contributes to the limited extant literature on the clinical supervision of physiotherapists. Consequently, this dissertation adds to the understanding of the place and value of clinical supervision in physiotherapy in Singapore.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Yan, Clement Chee Kin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cope, William
• Kalantzis, Mary
• Huang, Wenhao David
• Ferguson, Duncan C

• Clinical Supervision
• Physiotherapy
• Singapore
• Mixed Methods

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Clement C. Yan

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117626

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F117626