What motivates osteopaths to treat using indirect techniques? A qualitative investigation of the motivation and development of osteopathic practitioners.
Item
- Title
- What motivates osteopaths to treat using indirect techniques? A qualitative investigation of the motivation and development of osteopathic practitioners.
- Author(s)
- Morin, C
- Abstract
- Background During their training, osteopaths are exposed to a wide range of techniques, including those that are often characterised as direct and indirect. In practice some osteopaths choose to treat using mainly or only indirect techniques. Objective This project aims to describe and analyse osteopaths' motivations for using mainly indirect techniques, and to explore their development as practitioners towards this practice modality. Design A phenomenological approach using semi structured interviews was employed. Methods Eleven osteopaths selected using purposive sampling, participated in semi structured interviews with a topic guide. Interviews were transcribed and transcriptions were corroborated by interviewees. The transcriptions were then coded using qualitative data analysis software, and thematic analysis performed. Results Five main motivational themes were extracted from the data: * Personal Approach Preferences, Experiential * Perceived Clinical Utility (not efficacy) * Improved Efficacy, Empirical * Underlying Theoretical Value/Paradigm * Environment, Market. The most frequent influence that triggered participants' development towards indirect techniques was having been influenced by a lecturer or another practitioner, most frequently while being a practitioner. Participants mostly agreed that the definitions of direct and indirect techniques overlap, and that mixing both modalities within a treatment was viable. Discussion There is perhaps no clear boundary between osteopaths who practice with indirect and direct techniques, and interviewees rejected such a distinction. Motivations are influenced by individual character, personality, background and beliefs. Motivations of clinical utility and efficacy are currently only supported by empirical evidence. Conclusion This research suggested that there is a broad spectrum of motivational factors influencing practitioners' chosen treatment modalities, including both philosophical and physiological models, and more pragmatic factors of perceived clinical utility and efficacy. Further investigation of perceived advantages of this approach is indicated.
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2015
- Date Submitted
- 2.12.2016 16:55:00
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 15907
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Indirect technique; Motivation; Osteopathy; Professional development
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Morin, C, “What motivates osteopaths to treat using indirect techniques? A qualitative investigation of the motivation and development of osteopathic practitioners.”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 5, 2025, https://www.osteopathicresearch.org/s/orw/item/574