Caroline Heaney

Physiotherapists’ perceptions of sport psychology intervention in professional soccer

Abstract This study investigated the attitudes and perceptions of physiotherapists working in professional soccer toward sport psychology intervention in injury rehabilitation. The Physiotherapist and Sport Psychology Questionnaire (Hemmings & Povey, 2002) was distributed to all professional soccer clubs in England and Wales. Thirty‐nine of the questionnaires were returned fully completed. In addition to this, 10 of the 39 respondents participated in semi‐structured interviews designed to further examine attitudes and perceptions in this area. It was found that the physiotherapists believed that negative psychological reactions to sports injury were fairly commonplace, with stress/anxiety being the most commonly cited reaction. Fifty‐one percent of the physiotherapists reported having referred an athlete to a sport psychologist. The stigma associated with consulting a psychologist was found to be a barrier to referral. It was suggested that more education as to the role of sport psychology in injury rehabilitation is required, along with the development of a sport psychology referral network

A Qualitative and Quantitative Investigation of the Psychology Content of UK Physiotherapy Education Programs

Background and Purpose. A knowledge and understanding of psychology is recognized as being important to physiotherapy practice since psychological factors can impact upon physical recovery. However, little is known about the nature of psychology education within UK physiotherapy training programs. The purpose of the study was, therefore, to examine current psychology provision within physiotherapy programs in UK universities, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Subjects. The participants were self‐selected representatives from 17 UK universities. These representatives were program directors, program leaders, or lecturers teaching on the physiotherapy program. Methods. The participants were questioned regarding the nature and extent of psychology covered in their program, the delivery and assessment of any psychology content, the perceived importance of psychology in physiotherapy training, and factors influencing psychology provision in their physiotherapy programs. Results. All of the universities claimed to include some degree of psychology content within their physiotherapy programs and largely agreed that psychology is an important component in the education and training of physiotherapists. However, there appears to be great diversity both within and between universities in the provision of psychology education, and an underlying inconsistency between the reported importance of psychology and the demonstrated importance of psychology through its visibility within physiotherapy programs. Discussion and Conclusion. More needs to be done to standardize the psychology content of physiotherapy programs in order to ensure that students at all institutions receive a similar level of training in psychology, which can have a positive impact on their professional practice.

Sport psychology education for sport injury rehabilitation professionals: a systematic review

Sport psychology education has been shown to have a positive impact on the practice of sport injury rehabilitation professionals (SIRPs). The purpose of this paper is to review recommendations relating to such education. The paper presents a review of existing literature relating to the content and mode of delivery for a sport psychology education programme for SIRPs. The review seeks to address four questions: (1) What topic areas do researchers suggest should be integrated into the sport psychology education of SIRPs? (2) What topic areas are currently being recommended by professional bodies? (3) What are the findings of research examining the impact of sport psychology education on SIRPs? and (4) What do researchers recommend to be the most appropriate mode of delivery for sport psychology education for SIRPs? The findings of the review suggest that in order to maximise adherence amongst already qualified SIRPs sport psychology education should be delivered in a flexible short duration package. Additionally three broad areas that sport psychology education should cover emerged: (1) understanding of the psychological impact of injury, (2) interventions and psychological skills/techniques, and (3) referral and professional boundaries. This has important implications for the future training of SIRPs.

Case Report: The Impact of a Resubmission Intervention on Level 1 Distance Learning Students.

Student retention and success are key performance indicators within higher education. One of the key opportunities to address both of these lies with the support offered to students who fail a module but are entitled to resubmit. This study investigates the value of implementing a resubmission intervention to improve the quantity and quality of student resubmissions on a level 1 distance learning module. The intervention consisted of an online synchronous tutorial session and a supporting asynchronous forum. The effectiveness of the intervention was measured by comparing the resubmission and pass rates to a previous presentation with no intervention. It was found that resubmission and pass rates were higher where the intervention was used suggesting that a resubmission intervention can increase the quality and quantity of submissions. Whilst, these findings are useful, it is important to acknowledge that there are additional factors that can impact the quantity and quality of resubmissions.

THE IMPACT OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION ON THE PRACTICE OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS

Sports injury can lead to negative psychological reactions such as frustration or depression and there is now a body of evidence which indicates that sport psychology intervention can benefit sports injury rehabilitation (Heaney, IJSEP 2006;4:67–80). It would, however, appear that physiotherapists are often not equipped to integrate sport psychology into rehabilitation. Generally research has shown that physiotherapists recognise the importance of psychological factors but lack the training to utilise sport psychology (Arvinen-Barrow et al. JSR 2007;16:111–121). This suggests a need for further training; yet limited research exists examining such training. Therefore the purpose of this investigation was to examine the impact of sport psychology education on physiotherapists. 67 physiotherapists were assigned to the intervention group who studied an online sport psychology module and 68 were assigned to the control group, who studied an equivalent module with no psychology content. A questionnaire package which included the Psychology of Injury Usage Survey (Stiller-Ostrowski et al. JAT 2009;44:482–9) and the Attitudes About Imagery Survey (Hamson-Utley et al. JAT 2008;43:258–264) was completed by the participants at four points: immediately before, immediately after, 3 months and 6 months after completing the module. Data were collected on areas such as attitudes towards sport psychology, use of sport psychology and referral. Studying the module appeared to have a positive impact on the physiotherapists. Both attitudes towards and use of sport psychology improved following completion of the module. Importantly, use of sport psychology strategies was maintained during the 6 months following the completion of the module indicating a positive longitudinal effect. The findings of this study would suggest that sport psychology CPD courses should be more widely available to practicing physiotherapists.

The impact of a sport psychology education intervention on physiotherapists

Abstract The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of an online sport psychology education module on the attitudes and behaviours of qualified sports physiotherapists in the UK. Ninety-five sport physiotherapists studied either a sport psychology module or a control module, and their attitudes and behaviours towards sport psychology were measured prior to studying the module and at three points over a six-month period following its completion. It was found that those who had studied the sport psychology module demonstrated an improvement in their attitudes towards sport psychology immediately following its completion that was significantly higher than those who had studied the control module. Use of sport psychology also increased following the sport psychology module, with significant differences seen between the intervention and control group on the sport psychology subscale, indicating that those who had studied the sport psychology module were integrating more sport psychology techniques into their practice than those who had studied the control module. It was concluded that the online sport psychology module was effective in improving the attitudes and behaviours of UK physiotherapists and that more sport psychology education opportunities should be made available.