Exploring managerial perception of the role of the podiatrist in new health care services

Abstract

Aim : The aim of the study was to explore managerial perception with regards to the inclusion or expansion of the role of the podiatrist in different health care sectors in Malta which deal with the prevention, diagnosis and management of lower limb pathologies. Methods : An exploratory qualitative design was adopted in this research study. Purposive sampling to recruit managers heading different departments dealing with lower limb pathologies was used. Unstructured interviews were employed amongst participants in order to gather their views with regards to Podiatric development in their respective department. Interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was adopted for interview analysis. Results : The study showed that out of the six interviewed managers, mixed ideas exist with regards to introducing or expanding the role of the podiatrist, with some managers being fully in favour, some partially in favour, and some not in favour. The emergent themes were divided into two groups. The first group consists of the reasons against Podiatric development, and the second group deals with the reasons in favour of Podiatric development. Conclusion : This study concludes that there are different opinions with regards to the inclusion or expansion of the role of the podiatrists in different departments dealing with lower limb pathologies, with the majority of the opinions being in favour of this development. The study highlights the benefits which the podiatrists can bring to different departments and its patients, whilst also highlighting the barriers and challenges which the profession faces with this development. Further studies to evaluate the perceptions of other health care professionals within the multidisciplinary team, and patients’ perception are warranted.