| Sumario: | Background: More time spent in therapy, and more intensive physiotherapy input are associated with better outcomes.Objective: To determine if the implementation of a group therapy programme in addition to standard individual physiotherapy sessions would increase time spent in therapy and time spent performing motor activities.Study Design & Methods: This was an observational study to monitor patient time spent in therapy and other activities at two time points: the first observation was conducted in May 2004, with the second observation carried out in September 2006 after implementation of the group therapy programme. On each occasion, seven patients were followed over a continuous 11-hour period, from 0700 to 1800 hours. Participants were observed every 10 minutes to record where they were, whom they were with, and what motor activities they were performing (time use data).Results: There was no difference in time spent in therapy (-11% of the day) between the two observation periods. After the group therapy programme was implemented, patients appeared to spend less time alone: 17.8% of the day vs 35.4%, and more time spent with other patients: 41.3% of the day vs 18.7%, There was a trend towards performing certain motor activities more frequently (ie walking and using the affected arm) for those patients involved in the group class programme.Conclusion: The group class programme did not increase therapy time for patients. Other means of increasing motor activities need to be explored.
|
|---|