How is the audit of therapy intensity influencing rehabilitation in inpatient stroke units in the UK? An ethnographic study.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:Occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy are central to rehabilitation after a stroke. The UK has introduced an audited performance target: that 45 min of each therapy should be provided to patients deemed appropriate. We sought to understand how this has influenced delivery of stroke unit therapy. DESIGN:Ethnographic study, including observation and interviews. The theoretical framework drew on the work of Lipsky and Power, framing therapists as 'street level bureaucrats' in an 'audit society'. SETTING:Stroke units in three English hospitals. PARTICIPANTS:Forty-three participants were interviewed, including patients, therapists and other staff. RESULTS:There was wide variation in how therapy time was recorded and in decision-making regarding which pat

SUBMITTER: Taylor E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6303655 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature