Abstract
BackgroundA previous study highlighted the importance of footwear to individuals’ sense of their identity, demonstrating that shoes must ‘fit’ someone socially, as well as functionally. However, unhealthy shoes can have a detrimental effect on both foot health and mobility. This project utilises qualitative social science methods to enable podiatrists to understand the broader contribution of footwear to patients’ sense of themselves and from this an online toolkit was developed to aid footwear education.MethodSemi-structured interviews were conducted with six podiatrists/shoe-fitters and 13 people with foot pathologies, some of whom also completed shoe diaries. These were supplemented with some follow-up interviews and photographs of participants’ own shoes were taken to allow in-depth discussions.ResultsFour areas related to ‘fit’ were identified; practicalities, personal, purpose and pressures, all of which need to be considered when discussing changes in footwear. These were incorporated into an online toolkit which was further validated by service users and practitioners in a focus group.ConclusionThis toolkit can support podiatrists in partnership with patients to identify and address possible barriers to changing footwear towards a more suitable shoe. Enabling patients to make healthier shoe choices will help contribute to improvements in their foot health and mobility.
Highlights
A previous study highlighted the importance of footwear to individuals’ sense of their identity, demonstrating that shoes must ‘fit’ someone socially, as well as functionally
Conflict There can be conflict in what podiatrists and the people that they support and treat look for in a shoe, with many service users raising the importance of the visual appearance of footwear and the links between footwear, occasion and identity
The unfashionable ‘fuddy duddy’ shoes he was required to wear in order to accommodate his ulcers and foot pain inhibited his perceived ability to present himself as ‘smart’ and ‘trendy’ and resulted in him feeling socially isolated from particular occasions and describing a part of his identity as being ‘missing’ (Fig. 2)
Summary
A previous study highlighted the importance of footwear to individuals’ sense of their identity, demonstrating that shoes must ‘fit’ someone socially, as well as functionally. Unhealthy shoes can have a detrimental effect on both foot health and mobility. This project utilises qualitative social science methods to enable podiatrists to understand the broader contribution of footwear to patients’ sense of themselves and from this an online toolkit was developed to aid footwear education. Information is available to guide people when choosing suitable footwear as part of the Healthy Footwear Guide [7]. This recommends that a ‘healthy’ shoe should be of adequate width and depth with a toe box and sole that allow for normal foot function. The heel should be stable and approximately 25 mm high and the shoe should keep the foot stable
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