Piecing together a complex puzzle: how physiotherapists make sense of young women's long-term health disorders

Many young adults seek psychomotor physiotherapy for long-term health disorders such as persistent pain. A patient-centered approach that integrates biological, psychological, and social perspectives of young patients' health disorders is encouraged. However, little is known about how these different perspectives are integrated when physiotherapists make sense of young adults' long-term health disorders.

This study aims to generate novel insights into how psychomotor physiotherapists make sense of young adults' long-term health disorders and the clinical implications of their meaning-making.

We employed a narrative framework to analyze qualitative interviews with 10 Norwegian psychomotor physiotherapists in primary healthcare. Interviews followed clinical encounters with female patients aged 16-25 years.

We highlight three intertwined storylines within the physiotherapists' narratives, emphasizing different patient needs and treatment directions: "bodies in need of adjustments," "'good girls' in need of adjustments," and "vulnerable individuals in need of shelter." These storylines were built from pieces of information emphasizing biological, psychological, and social factors, respectively. Furthermore, they emerged across and within each treatment narrative, indicating that each physiotherapist combined and alternated between these different interpretations when making sense of a young woman's health disorder.

Physiotherapists make sense of young women's long-term health disorders by piecing together a complex understanding of these patients' conditions. Different perspectives can guide the treatment in various directions, posing challenges in clinical practice. Furthermore, cultural notions risk overshadowing individual patient needs. Time, trust, and openness are important for physiotherapists to understand each young patient's situation and needs and thus provide patient-centered physiotherapy.