Therapeutic Encounters with Preterm Infants: Interaction, Posture and Movement

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2014

Program

Physical Therapy

Abstract

Background and purpose: Physiotherapy is a common intervention for preterm infants with motor disorders. There is a limited knowledge on how individual and contextual actions influence what is created and achieved in clinical encounters between physiotherapists and infants born preterm. In this theoretical paper the aim is to open a discussion for clinicians in pediatrics to take into consideration that patient interaction might have a significant impact for the outcome. Through introducing theoretical principles based on the phenomenology of the body and enactive intersubjectivity the paper provides a framework for better understanding the contribution that the interactional components in physiotherapy with preterm infants may have. Conclusion: The elaboration shows how social interaction and intentional actions influence each other in therapy. Accordingly, a fundamental driving force for effective physiotherapy intervention in preterm infants may involve a dynamical process of embodied interaction with the generation of meaning between physiotherapist and infant. Clinical implications: Our elaboration suggests that a coordinated process of embodied interaction with preterm infants can enhance motor performance during therapeutic encounters.

DOI

10.3109/09593985.2013.806621

PMID

23848573

Publication

Physiotherapy Theory and Practice

Volume

30

Issue

1

Pages

1-5

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