A qualitative investigation of barriers and facilitators of rehabilitation success from the psychosomatic inpatients’ perspective

OBJECTIVE: Psychosomatic inpatient rehabilitation aims at promoting functioning in patients with mental disorders. Although generally effective, some patients do not benefit from this rehabilitation and suffer from symptoms as well as functional impairment. This study aimed to identify patient-reported factors influencing activity and participation outcomes. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Five focus groups with N=23 former psychosomatic rehabilitation inpatients were conducted. The discussions focused on facilitators and barriers of treatment outcome. The material was analyzed inductively according to qualitative content analysis. Categories were derived from the material. RESULTS: Patients reported sociodemographic and clinical characteristics as well as personal factors, preparation before psychotherapy, and aspects of employment and health care as predictors of treatment success. CONCLUSION: A wide range of possible factors that influence the course of functioning from the patients’ perspective were determined. These factors can be assigned to the ICF conceptual model. Clinician and researcher perspectives may complement these factors.