Patients' experiences with self-referral to in-patient rehabilitation: a qualitative interview study.
OBJECTIVE
To describe objectives, experiences and satisfaction among subjects referring themselves to in-patient rehabilitation.


METHODS
Persons suffering from stroke or multiple sclerosis were invited to refer themselves to a specialised rehabilitation department. Ten patients referred themselves within the study period, of whom two were excluded. The remaining eight underwent qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews, focusing on the decision of self-referral, the personal goals for the rehabilitation, and the satisfaction with the stay. The interviews were tape-recorded and subjected to content analysis. As an underlying theoretical framework, we applied Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence model.


RESULTS
Half of the patients had not written the application themselves and did not know which grounds had been put forward in the application. Nevertheless, all the patients were able to formulate their personal goals for the rehabilitation stay. These were distributed in three main categories: those who recently had got a progressive disability wanted education and improved knowledge on their disease; those who had had an acute, traumatic change of health status wanted training in order to improve muscular strength or everyday skills; and those who had been disabled for several years wanted inspiration for further life.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients may put forward other reasons to apply for rehabilitation than health personnel. Does the Sense of Coherence Model seems applicable to describe these reasons.
Andreassen
Svein
S
Østfold County Hospital Trust, PO Box 45, N-1603, Fredrikstad, Norway. svandrea@online.no
Wyller
Torgeir Bruun
TB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009664:Norway; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D020521:Stroke / Q000523:psychology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation