Letting Go of an Old Habit: Group Leaders' Experiences of a Client-centred Multidisciplinary Falls-prevention Programme

Objective: It has been suggested that the prevention of disability and falls should be conducted from a client-centred approach, especially when it includes how individuals learn new strategies in everyday life. In addition, programmes for the prevention of falls need to be multi-professional and multidisciplinary in order to be effective. In preventive work with clients, using the approach of client-centredness, the therapists work together with the clients to enable them to achieve occupational goals. There are few studies in fall prevention that have explored group leaders' experiences, i.e., studies that focus on the experiences of group leaders when working from a client-centred approach.

Methods: This study aims to explore, by the use of focus-group interviews, the therapists' experiences of being group leaders in a fall-prevention programme that applied the ideas and approaches described above.

Results: The analysis revealed that a change in the role of being a group leader had taken place during the intervention process. Three primary categories pertaining to this process were identified: (i) the group leaders moved between the role of expert and the role of facilitator; the group climate (ii) facilitated the translation of expert knowledge to applied knowledge; and (iii) increased awareness as a prerequisite for change.