A Needs Assessment of Clinicians’ Perception of Self-Management Support

Helena Seunghee Jung

Purpose: To study clinicians’ attitudes, confidence, learning needs, perceived facilitators and barriers for implementing self-management support (SMS) within one rehabilitation setting with the aim to facilitate SMS in practice.

Methods: Participants in this exploratory descriptive study attended a basic SMS workshop prior to completing an online self-administered survey.

Findings: Although participants believed in facilitating clients to be self-managers, they have varying levels of knowledge and confidence in using SMS strategies. There was high interest in learning and implementing SMS but more resources, time, and administrative support are required. Out-patient programs were perceived as the most appropriate setting to implement SMS.

Conclusion: Administrative support for clinicians to access resources and dedicated time to learn and incorporate SMS strategies appear to be essential for facilitating SMS. Future study should explore how clinicians’ SMS facilitates patient self-management.