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Experiences of six
neurologically impaired people
Key Words
Physiotherapy,
Vojta,
rehabilitation,
self-training.
567
by Birgitta Bckstrm
Lars Dahlgren
A qualitative study
Bckstrm, B and
Dahlgren, L (2000). Vojta
self-training: Experiences
of six neurologically
impaired people:
A qualitative study,
Physiotherapy, 86, 10,
567-574.
Introduction
Autonomous training for adults based on
what Czechoslovakian child neurologist
Vaclav Vojta has identified as inborn reflex
locomotion was first developed at the Rome
Vojta centre. The first author (Bckstrm), a
Vojta-trained paediatric physiotherapist,
learned about it there in 1989.
Vojta self-training was then tried in
northern Sweden in two single-case studies
with cerebral palsied subjects (Bckstrm
and Swanberg, 1991). Two diplegic young
women had subjectively and objectively
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569
Fig 1: Punctum stabile is left elbow. Trainee turns his eyes to right side in
order to invoke locomotion
Objective
The objective of the study was to find out:
How a self-training period triggering
reflex locomotion as described by Vojta
was experienced by six people with
neurological impairment.
If the trainees experienced effects that
they ascribed to the routine.
If they considered it worth while,
considering the time and effort that were
required.
Material and Subjects
A strategic sample of neurologically
impaired subjects was selected to contain six
trainees who were as different from each
other as possible. They are described in the
table overleaf.
570
Condition
6
(extra)
Taped Interviews
After their self-training period, the patients
took part in taped interviews, being asked
the following questions, which had
previously been tried out in a pilot study:
What happens during training?
What does it feel like?
You have tried other training methods,
what is the difference?
Have you noticed any motoric changes
that you think might be due to this
training?
Was it worth the time and effort spent?
Will you continue?
What qualities, if any, do you consider
necessary for a person to do self-training
according to Vojta?
Each interview took between 45 and 60
minutes.
Self-training Procedure
The trainees were to provoke the locomotion for at least four months, every day
for 15-30 minutes, and then participate in
recorded interviews. The first five subjects
were instructed and followed-up in Vojta selftraining by the chief author (Bckstrm). I
had a couple of initial meetings with each
trainee, at which I used my hands to trigger
what Vojta has explained as their dormant
ideal movements and to give them a feeling
of the muscle work in reflex locomotion.
After that they were to contact me if they
wanted further instruction.
Exercise Technique
The trainees lay in the instructed position in
supine, lateral or prone. They concentrated
on the fixed support point, often an elbow
against the surface, turned their eyes and
waited. They had not been told what to
expect.
After a while their bodies started to move
in the inborn movement predisposition
described by Vojta. In supine, for instance,
the legs would bend and the body slowly
turn to the side. In this way, the movements
were activated for 15-30 minutes each time.
The first few times nothing much happened,
but as they persevered more and more
would occur in their bodies. In a single
training session, trainee 2 could finally come
all the way from supine to prone to kneeling
in both directions and all that, as he said,
without actually doing it himself.
Physiotherapy November 2000/vol 86/no 11
Extra Trainee
After coding, interpretation and categorisation of the interviews with five trainees I
realised that there were striking similarities
in their experiences and viewpoints. They all
seemed to take a very positive view on this
type of self-training. But how did the fact
that I was the instructing physiotherapist
influence them? I decided to find one more
trainee to interview, whom I had never met
before. However, the experiences of trainee
6 did not differ from those of the others.
Naturalistic Inquiry,
Grounded Theory
Following Lincoln and Guba (1985), the
data collection was performed in a home
environment with semi-structured interviews
(Kvale, 1996). The inter views were
transcribed word for word and interpreted
according to the grounded theory method
(Glaser, 1978; Starrin et al, 1997). This is a
method used to generate ideas, hypotheses
or theories from empirical data. When each
interview had been transcribed, it was read
and reread and subjected to open coding, a
technique used to identify pertinent
information categories in an unstructured
collection of material. Associations were
written down in the margin of the transcript.
The codes were then narrowed down to
categories describing the essence of the
interview.
As an example, the following quotation
generated six open codes:
Professional articles
571
Authors
Birgitta Bckstrm MSc is
a physiotherapist
working with adults with
physical handicaps in
Ume, Sweden. She
performed the data
collection and is
responsible for the
analysis.
Lars Dahlgren PhD is
assistant professor in
medical sociology,
Departments of
Epidemiology and Public
Health and Sociology,
Ume University. He
acted as tutor, expecially
on methodology.
This article was received
in 1997 and accepted on
June 22, 2000.
Address for
Correspondence
Birgitta Bckstrm,
Handikappfvaltningen,
V Norrlandsgatan 18B,
S-901 89 Ume, Sweden.
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Professional articles
3. Independence
All trainees complied well. They worked
every day for at least four months. The
trainees had very different needs for
physiotherapist help. One wanted to be
followed-up weekly or biweekly, although
new instructions were not necessary. One
worked completely on her own for six
months. All stressed the value of independence in training.
The opportunity to train without physiotherapist assistance was appreciated. This
was especially stressed by trainee 1, who
talked about critical physiotherapist hands,
finding faults.
The greatest asset with this type of
training is that I manage to do this on
my own. I get control over myself and
my life and do not need to commit
myself into the hands of somebody else
(trainee 1).
I can do the training myself. I don't need
anybody's hands to help me (trainee 2).
It is not laborious and I do not need any
help (trainee 3).
This is a thing I myself can control and
also I can do it completely on my own
(trainee 4).
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Key Messages
The Czech
neurologist Vaclav
Vojta began and
developed therapy
with and for cerebral
palsied children.
Vojta explains the
invoked movements,
turning and creeping,
as the activation of
inborn programmes of
locomotion.
Simply by moving
their eyes, adults with
or without impairment
can also invoke the
movement sequences
described by Vojta.
References
Neurologically
impaired people who
self-trained ad modum
Vojta have reported
functional
improvement.
Conclusions
Vojta self training was interesting and
rewarding for the trainees while doing it.
Trainees considered the time and effort
well spent.
Five of the six persons studied
experienced improved motor functions;
the sixth experienced instant physical
and mental relaxation.
It was important to the trainees to be able
to train without assistance.
Trainees find it hard to explain Vojta
self-training, what happens in their
bodies during sessions.