"It was really nice to have someone" - Lay people with musculoskeletal disorders request supportive relationships in rehabilitation

Aims: To explore the lay person's perspective on the rehabilitation process . Methods: A total of 20 interviews were conducted with women and men who h ad recent or more distant experience of sickness absence,vith musculoskelet al diagnoses. Grounded theory was used, which includes an inductive approac h and theoretical sampling. The interviews focused on the individuals' own stories and experiences of factors that promoted or hindered the rehabilita tion process. Results: The interviewees emphasized how and by whom they had been treated rather than what type of rehabilitation programmes they had a ttended. They focused on the importance of Supportive relationships From th e private, occupational, and health care arenas. The relationship with reha bilitation agents (professionals who implemented rehabilitation) was descri bed as having either supportive or non-supportive qualities. Based on the i nterviewees' descriptions. a model was developed on the socioemotional qual ities of the rehabilitation agent. The most promoting factor in the rehabil itation process was to have a professional mentor that is a rehabilitation agent who combines a supportive approach with individually chosen rehabilit ation measures and goals. Conclusions: The lay person's perspective gave ad ditional knowledge regarding rehabilitation and recovery from musculoskelet al disorders. The socioemotional qualities of the rehabilitation agents wer e emphasized by the interviewees and a model regarding these qualities was developed, This model needs to be tested further. A clinical implication of the present study is the need for rehabilitation agents to develop their c ommunication skills further.