Understanding Australian female chiropractors\u2019 experiences of inappropriate patient sexual behaviour: a study using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Stanley Innes,Michele Lastella,Laura Maurice,Catherine O’Mullan

doi:10.1186/s12998-021-00394-1

Abstract

IntroductionFemale practitioners are often subjected to inappropriate patient sexual behaviour (IPSB). Adverse consequences of such sexual harassment include for the practitioner psychological stress effects and negative work-related consequences that contributes to career dissatisfaction and burnout. Confronting the issue within the healthcare context has been shown to be problematic because practitioners feel an obligation to protect the therapeutic relationship above their own personal discomfort. There is an absence of research on this topic with respect to female chiropractors and we proposed a qualitative study aimed to explore female chiropractors lived experiences of managing incidents of IPSB.MethodAn Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis methodology was chosen for this study. In June and July of 2018 female chiropractors in Western Australian were recruited via Facebook sites and invited to participate in face-to-face interviews for an Honours degree study exploring the lived experience of IPSB.ResultsParticipants were seven female chiropractors currently practicing in Western Australia, who had experienced an incident of IPSB. Four super-ordinate themes emerged from the analysis; (1) familiar but inarticulable, (2) the cost of conflict, (3) I’m used to it, and (4) the element of surprise. Overall, the participants recognised the incidents as inappropriate but chose to ignore the situation as a means to avoid conflict in the treatment room. Recommendations are made to better manage IPSB including greater patient awareness of appropriate behaviour, specific curriculum content and assertiveness training in undergraduate programs and continuing professional education, as well as the creation of ethical guidelines for patient behaviour by regulatory bodies.ConclusionThis is the first study to give a forum for female chiropractors to discuss their experiences of IPSB. The domain of private practice is not immune to incidents IPSB and although similar to day-to-day non-clinical life is nonetheless surprising and impactful.

Highlights

Female practitioners are often subjected to inappropriate patient sexual behaviour (IPSB)
In June and July of 2018 female chiropractors in Western Australian were recruited via Facebook sites and invited to participate in face-toface interviews for an Honours degree study exploring the lived experience of IPSB
Participants were seven female chiropractors currently practicing in Western Australia, who had experienced an incident of IPSB

Summary

Introduction

Female practitioners are often subjected to inappropriate patient sexual behaviour (IPSB). There appears to be a growing research interest on female health practitioners who have experienced unwanted sexual harassment or abuse [1,2,3,4] Such incidents have been reported in the literature concerning medical practitioners, but little is known about this in manual therapists. 40 to 50% of women are reported to have experience unwanted sexual advances, sexual contact or other forms of sexual harassment [7,8,9] This is infrequently followed up formally [10] and rarely considered a public health concern [11] and sits at odds with societal desires to create work environments where both genders can survive and thrive [12]

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