Physiotherapists in Balint Group Training.

Background and PurposeBalint group training (BGT) is a method widely used for enhancing understanding of the relationship and communication between health professionals and their patients. Participants meet in small groups, on a regular basis, with a tutor to discuss their experiences of problem cases. The method was originally developed in the 1950s for enhancing understanding of the doctor-patient relationship. Few studies have focused on BGT and physiotherapists. The aim of the present study was to describe and analyse physiotherapists' experiences of participation in BGT as a means of learning and understanding the physiotherapist-patient relationship.MethodSemi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with three physiotherapists working in private practice, all participating in BGT. The intervews were transcribed and subjected to a qualitative analysis.ResultsThe results are presented in a sequential model, featuring eight themes in which the physiotherapists' experiences of the training process are portrayed.ConclusionsThe results suggest that BGT and sharing the experiences of others may be considered a way of enhancing understanding of the patient encounter in clinical practice, possibly to the benefit of physiotherapists and their patientsThis is the author’s version of the following article:Madeleine Abrandt Dahlgren, Andreas Almquist and Johan Krook, Physiotherapists in Balint Group Training., 2000, Physiotherapy Research International, (5), 2, 85-96.which has been published in final form at:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pri.188Copyright: John Wiley & Sons Ltd