Introduction: Post-stroke pain is a common yet undertreated condition that may benefit from mind-body therapies. Whilst physiotherapists regularly see consumers with pain following stroke, physiotherapists’ and educators’ perceptions about physiotherapists’ role in providing mind-body therapies for this cohort are unknown. We aimed to explore physiotherapists' and physiotherapy educators' perceptions of the profession's role in providing mind-body therapies for people with pain following stroke, as well as physiotherapists' implementation barriers/enablers.
Methods: Australian physiotherapists (who work with stroke survivors; n=91) and physiotherapy educators (n=18) answered an open-text question about the role of physiotherapists in providing mind-body therapies for people with pain post-stroke. Additionally, physiotherapists selected barriers and enablers to the use of mind-body therapies. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and conventional content analysis.
Results: Participants’ responses were collated into the following categories: (1) delivery of mind-body therapies, (2) knowledge, and (3) logistics. Educator responses included an additional category with perspectives about mind-body therapies being beneficial and under-utilised. Physiotherapists most frequently reported a lack of training, knowledge, and skills as barriers, with education and/or training being the largest enabler to using mind-body therapies.
Conclusion: Both participant groups described a direct or assistive role for physiotherapists in providing mind-body therapies for people with pain after stroke. They also acknowledged the need for education/training and scientific evidence to support best-practice patient-centred biopsychosocial care. Scope of practice and feasibility factors relating to the service, organisation, or mind-body therapy delivery were additional areas for consideration.
Relevance to clinical practice or patient experience: More education/training, along with quality scientific evidence, are needed for physiotherapists to develop their role in directly providing or assisting people with pain after a stroke in accessing mind-body therapies. Further exploration of the scope of practice for physiotherapists, as well as effective behaviour change and implementation strategies, is also needed.