Supporting Sense of Meaningful Life and Human Dignity in Digitally Assisted Physiotherapy Environment – Qualitative Secondary Research with Thematic Analyses and Inductive Synthesis

Abstract

The goal of this secondary research was to create a model that aims at increasing the sense of meaningful life and human dignity in physiotherapy by utilizing remote and digital rehabilitation technologies, focusing on people with cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and multiple sclerosis (MS). The results of this qualitative research effort have been obtained using thematic analyses and inductive synthesis. Our primary research, which provides materials for the secondary analysis, is based on qualitative systematic literature reviews and a meta-synthesis of the perceived meaningfulness of physiotherapy. The outcome of the secondary analysis is a research-based model, which combines rehabilitees´ experiences and expectations towards physiotherapy, professionals’ competence needs, and the technological prerequisites for using digital rehabilitation technologies with CVA and MS rehabilitees. Maintenance of human dignity and promotion of the sense of meaningful life, and various issues related to them, were most meaningful for the rehabilitees. The essential prerequisites of meaningful use of re- mote and digital rehabilitation technologies in physiotherapy were enabling identification of the rehabilitees’ own current functioning, needs and goals, supporting their motivation and commitment, choosing relevant and meaningful activities, creating safe and variable environments, and enabling social interaction and relationships. As far as we know, this is the first model which combines neuro- logical rehabilitees’ experiences of physiotherapy with remote and digital technology’s potential. In the future, the usefulness of our novel research-based holistic and biopsychosocial physiotherapy model should be tested in real life situations.