Collegiate Student-Athletes' Perceptions of Patient-Centered Care Delivered by Athletic Trainers

Abstract

Context: The core competencies of health care indicate that all medical professionals should provide patient-centered care (PCC), or care that is respectful and responsive to one's values and preferences, during each encounter. Objective: To identify collegiate student-athletes' definition of PCC and measure their perceived level of PCC from an athletic trainer (AT). Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Mixed-method survey. Patients or Participants: A total of 610 (age = 19 ± 1 year) NCAA student-athletes completed the survey. Main Outcome Measure(s): The survey consisted of one open-ended question prompting the participant to define PCC in their own words. The quantitative data was gathered through the Global Perceptions of Athletic Trainer PCC tool which explored the overall agreement about the ATs use of PCC constructs. Finally, those participants who had received care from an AT completed the validated Patient Perception of Patient-Centeredness (PPPC) instrument. Qualitative analysis was completed through Text IQ™ technology from Qualtrics® with a mean sentiment score (MSS) attributed to each of the coded statements. We performed descriptive statistics for all quantitative data. Results: The qualitative analysis revealed 13 topics in which the most used were individualized, priority, and best. Other topics were inconsistent with how the medical community has defined PCC. On the global agreement scale of PCC tool, the participants expressed a strong agreement (mode = 4) with 12 of the 15 statements. On the patient perception instrument, participants expressed that the AT was completely (mode = 4) patient-centered for all dimensions during their most recent encounter. However, the behaviors of PCC, defined by the medical community, may not be directly expressed from the viewpoint of a collegiate student-athlete. Conclusions: Student-athletes defined PCC as individualized and prioritized health care. Additionally, student-athletes perceived that ATs provided care that kept their best interest in mind and practiced PCC during their encounters.

Athletic trainers’ viewpoints of patient-centered care: Preliminary findings

“…Although confidence in one’s ability to implement PCC is important, it is different from successfully performing PCC in a real clinical setting, which has been identified in athletic training as a weakness in emergency care skills and healthcare administration. Athletic training literature has recently started to address the need to measure providers’ application of PCC throughout their care by asking the very patients Ats interact with daily [ 27 ]. When surveyed on how well Ats embody PCC, student-athletes demonstrated strong agreement with the statement that Ats at their college/university delivered care that was respectful of their preferences [ 27 ].…”

“…Athletic training literature has recently started to address the need to measure providers’ application of PCC throughout their care by asking the very patients Ats interact with daily [ 27 ]. When surveyed on how well Ats embody PCC, student-athletes demonstrated strong agreement with the statement that Ats at their college/university delivered care that was respectful of their preferences [ 27 ]. These patient findings are significant and match the viewpoints that Ats in our study had for themselves regarding PCC, but more research needs to be done comparing perceptions across all athletic training clinical settings and patient populations.…”

“…The concern is rooted in the athletics delivery model where coaches and administrators often dictate the provision of care [ 15 ]. Recently, 18% of collegiate athletes have reported that an AT allowed or made them participate when they should have been medically disqualified from participation noting the continued issue relative to healthcare delivery in sports medicine [ 16 ]. Within athletic training, PCC directly explores how and why an injured or ill individual may heal while others with chronic concerns are slow to get better [ 10 , 17 ].…”

Athletic Trainers’ Viewpoints of Patient-Centered Care

“…Athletic training literature has recently started to address the need to measure providers' application of PCC throughout their care by asking the very patients ATs interact with daily. 21 When surveyed on how well ATs embody PCC, student-athletes demonstrated strong agreement with the statement that ATs at their college/university delivered care that was respectful of their preferences. 21 These patient ndings are signi cant and match the viewpoints that ATs in our study had for themselves regarding PCC, but more research needs to be done comparing perceptions across all athletic training clinical settings and patient populations.…”

Perspectives of a Mental Health Emergency Standardized Patient Encounter: A Follow-Up Interview of Athletic Trainers

“…Researchers identified that NCAA Division 1 athletes viewed their ATs as patient-centered providers in the realm of individualized, empathetic care. 37 Athletes have defined empathy through actions of their ATs including patient advocacy, reflective listening, and creating personal connection. 38 The participants in our study felt similarly as in previous research where they were able to develop an empathetic approach to the patient encounter.…”