The carry-over effects of aquatic physiotherapy for people with Multiple Sclerosis

Context and Aim: Burrswood Health and Wellbeing Centre developed a new service of aquatic physiotherapy for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The preliminary literature review identified a clear gap in the knowledge and justified the need for carrying out research on the perspectives of people with MS about the carry-over effects of aquatic physiotherapy. The main aim of this doctoral research is to explore, better understand and explain the perspectives of people with MS about the carry-over effects of aquatic physiotherapy. Research Design: A pragmatic qualitative research approach using the Classic Grounded Theory methodology was employed. People with MS who completed a programme of six sessions of 1-to-1 aquatic physiotherapy at the Burrswood Health and Wellbeing Centre were invited to participate in this study. Participants’ views were collected by using two qualitative data collection methods. These were ‘letter to a friend’ and semi-structured interview. The data were collected from 17 people with MS and were analysed by using the Constant Comparative Analysis. After the emergence of core category, a Grounded Theory literature review was completed and a theoretical framework was identified to contextualise the findings. Research Findings: The research generated three categories: Realising Potential, Positive Attitude and Enabling; one core category: Empowering, and two theoretical codes: Facilitating factor and Deterring factor. Research Conclusions: Discussion and integration of findings with the literature contributed to the development of ‘Burrswood Conceptual Framework of Empowerment’. Although this framework has the potential to explain the carry-over effects of the aquatic physiotherapy for people with Multiple Sclerosis, it is important to acknowledge that the findings only represent the views of a small group of people with MS from a single private aquatic physiotherapy centre.