Barriers and Facilitators Toward In-Hospital Patients’ Mobility: The Walk-For Study

Although mobility during hospitalization prevents functional decline, medical teams’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors may pose barriers toward its promotion. To describe these barriers and facilitators toward in-hospital mobility among physicians, nurses, physical-therapists (PT), and nurse assistants (NA) we conducted 10 in-depth interviews, and administered surveys among 90 medical team members of two internal medical units in Israel. Mixed methods analyses reveal a complex, multi-faceted and paradoxical picture of organizational and personal factors: fear of falls overshadowed every positive attitude toward mobility. Nonetheless, PTs and NAs express the most positive attitudes toward mobility compared with physicians and nurses. Moreover, while family members were not considered as potential collaborators in mobility assistance, NAs demonstrated desire to learn and take more responsibilities toward patients’ mobility. To conclude, identifying barriers and facilitators toward mobility may help in designing and adopting effective interventions to promote patients’ mobility.