Patient Participation in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: A Concept Analysis

Patient participation is essential in physical medicine and rehabilitation [1-4]. The consensus about the importance of patients actively participating in their rehabilitation is unquestionable in the literature that refers to theories of rehabilitation, behavioral change and le+arning [5-9]. In general, rehabilitation is primarily a process of education to improve the patient’s physical, sensory, intellectual, psychological and social functioning [10] to assist the patient in coping with his or her life situation with as little support as possible [8] and to facilitate the learning process of how to live a life with a disability in one’s own environment [9]. An injury or disease requires a change in the patient’s behavior and an adjustment to the new situation [9]. Since a person acts for a reason, i.e. has a goal-directed behavior [11,12] a crucial part of the rehabilitation is to implement interventions as meaningful and relevant for the patient [1,13].