Collaborative Clinical Reasoning: Perceptions and Practices of General Practitioners, Physical Therapists, and Patients With Low Back Pain in Primary Care

Description

Low back pain is a major health problem in primary care and is associated with a substantial clinical, economic, and societal burden. Although evidence-based recommendations are available, its management remains heterogeneous, poorly coordinated, and often characterized by overmedicalization. In this context, interprofessional collaboration has been identified as a means of improving primary care but does not necessarily ensure a shared understanding of clinical situations. Collaborative Clinical Reasoning (CCR), defined as the process of developing a shared mental model among healthcare professionals and patient partners, remains insufficiently explored in primary care. This exploratory qualitative study aims to explore the representations and definitions of Collaborative Clinical Reasoning among general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patient partners with low back pain in French-speaking Belgium. It also aims to examine how CCR is implemented in primary care practice and to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to its implementation. Data will be collected through separate focus groups involving general practitioners, physiotherapists, and patient partners with low back pain. Qualitative data will be analyzed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis.

Interventions

• Focus groups and deliberative workshop (Other)
  General practitioners, physiotherapists, and patients will first participate in separate focus groups for each stakeholder group. A subsequent mixed deliberative workshop will bring together participants from the three stakeholder groups to discuss and refine the findings.

Eligibility criteria

Conditions

Locations

• UCLouvain - Institute of Health and Society (IRSS) — Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels Capital, Belgium