The perspective of rehabilitation health care professionals regarding the clinical utility of a body-environment proximity measurement device

AbstractMeasuring the proximity of the body to the environment has the potential to provide rehabilitation health care professionals (RHCP) new, additional information to assess mobility. The aims of this study were to explore the opinions and needs of professionals to use a new device to measure such proximity, and to determine potential barriers and facilitators to implement it within the clinical setting. Four focus groups were conducted with 23 RHCP. The concept of a proximity measurement device in the early stages of development was introduced. A qualitative content analysis using a model of clinical utility as guidance for coding of the transcribed texts was used. Many potential uses were raised including: improving patient safety, motor learning, independence in tasks as gait, transfers and reaching tasks, saving time during assessment, improving follow-up with the client, data precision and objectivity to assess tasks. Barriers were related to still unclear relevance, effectiveness, the added valu...