Searching for the 'Good' in Physiotherapist Practice: Toward an Ethic of Care
type: CreativeWork
description: The qualities and practices of a ‘good’ physiotherapist have not been systematically reviewed nor have practitioners’ perspectives been empirically investigated. Understanding what constitutes a ‘good’ physiotherapist has potentially profound implications that may inform professional priorities including education curricula, professional practices, competency profiles, and patient interactions. The research purpose was to examine perceptions of what constitutes a ‘good’ physiotherapist. This dissertation includes four integrated manuscripts. The first is an integrative review to critically examine how physiotherapists and patients describe the qualities of a ‘good’ MSK physiotherapist as depicted in peer-reviewed literature. Six qualities were identified as: responsive, ethical, communicative, caring, competent, and collaborative. The second and third manuscripts are hermeneutic phenomenological investigations that draw on Joan Tronto’s ethic of care theory as a theoretical perspective. The second manuscript is an examination of twelve physiotherapists’ accounts of what constitutes a ‘good’ physiotherapist garnered from semi-structured phenomenological interviews. Seven themes were identified. Two broad themes highlighted an ethical orientation to care and the integration of person-centered care with evidence-based practice. These were underpinned by more specific themes of ‘being’ competent, responsive, reflective, communicative, and ‘using’ reasoning. The third manuscript was a secondary analysis of data arising in the hermeneutic phenomenological study focused on practitioners’ accounts of ‘responsiveness’ in the practice of a ‘good’ physiotherapist. Six identified themes included: being person-centred, being attentive, being open, being a listener, being validating, and being positive. The fourth manuscript is a reflexive account of my transformed understanding of what counts as professional knowledge in physiotherapy. These studies offer perspectives suggesting…
abstract: The qualities and practices of a ‘good’ physiotherapist have not been systematically reviewed nor have practitioners’ perspectives been empirically investigated. Understanding what constitutes a ‘good’ physiotherapist has potentially profound implications that may inform professional priorities including education curricula, professional practices, competency profiles, and patient interactions. The research purpose was to examine perceptions of what constitutes a ‘good’ physiotherapist. This dissertation includes four integrated manuscripts. The first is an integrative review to critically examine how physiotherapists and patients describe the qualities of a ‘good’ MSK physiotherapist as depicted in peer-reviewed literature. Six qualities were identified as: responsive, ethical, communicative, caring, competent, and collaborative. The second and third manuscripts are hermeneutic phenomenological investigations that draw on Joan Tronto’s ethic of care theory as a theoretical perspective. The second manuscript is an examination of twelve physiotherapists’ accounts of what constitutes a ‘good’ physiotherapist garnered from semi-structured phenomenological interviews. Seven themes were identified. Two broad themes highlighted an ethical orientation to care and the integration of person-centered care with evidence-based practice. These were underpinned by more specific themes of ‘being’ competent, responsive, reflective, communicative, and ‘using’ reasoning. The third manuscript was a secondary analysis of data arising in the hermeneutic phenomenological study focused on practitioners’ accounts of ‘responsiveness’ in the practice of a ‘good’ physiotherapist. Six identified themes included: being person-centred, being attentive, being open, being a listener, being validating, and being positive. The fourth manuscript is a reflexive account of my transformed understanding of what counts as professional knowledge in physiotherapy. These studies offer perspectives suggesting…
author: Kleiner, Michelle J
language: en_ca
keywords: clinical competence, professional-patient relations, musculoskeletal, patient-centered care, hermeneutic phenomenology, phronesis
date published: 2022-03-01
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:56:13Z
provider: Western University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Western Ontario

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/31934