title: Personal assistants' conceptions of their cooperation in the rehabilitation of disabled persons.
abstract: Personal assistants assist persons with severe disability in the performance of their daily activities. The law that covers the right to personal assistance is intended to strengthen the disabled individual's position as a member of society. The aim of the study was to describe personal assistants' conceptions of their cooperation in the rehabilitation of disabled persons. A qualitative method with a phenomenographic approach was used. Six personal assistants were interviewed. Strategic selection of the participants was carried out in order to obtain as wide a variation in conceptions as possible. The results showed that, apart from the factors related to the assistants, factors related to the disabled persons and the environment were of major significance for rehabilitation. The conceptions generated by the study were presented in the form of main categories and subcategories. Four main categories were developed: the meaning of will; the professional role; to consider ability; and awareness of the environment.
authors.affiliation: Skansliden Rehabilitation Centre, Varberg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindholm
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nodlycke
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mårtensson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D018576:Home Health Aides / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D024382:Professional Role / Q000523:psychology; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012649:Self Concept