Identifying key outcome domains with underlying specific patient-reported outcomes for psychomotor therapy in mental health care in the Netherlands: a multi-phased qualitative study

TL;DR

This study identifies five key outcome domains for evaluating psychomotor therapy in mental health care, based on input from professionals and patients in the Netherlands.

Contribution

The study systematically identifies and synthesizes patient and professional perspectives on key outcome domains for psychomotor therapy.

Findings

Professionals prioritized body experience, movement experience, emotion regulation, stress regulation, and sensory awareness.

Patients emphasized body experience, social interaction, movement experience, emotion regulation, and integration of thinking, feeling, and behavior.

The synthesized outcome domains include body experience, movement experience, emotion regulation, social interaction, and stress regulation.

Abstract

Psychomotor therapy is an experiential therapy using movement- and body-oriented interventions to diminish psychiatric symptoms and improve psychosocial functioning. However, routine evaluation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and standardisation of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in psychomotor therapy research and practice in adult mental healthcare are lacking, resulting in a gap in systematic research and evaluation of psychomotor interventions. This study aims to select the five most relevant outcome domains with underlying PROs for psychomotor therapy from the perspective of psychomotor professionals and patients.

A multi-phased qualitative study was conducted in the Netherlands, consisting of three sub-studies: (i) the selection of the five most relevant outcome domains with underlying PROs from the perspective of psychomotor professionals (N = 53), using a modified Nominal Group Technique in an adapted serial design; (ii) the selection of the five most relevant outcome domains with underlying PROs from the perspective of patients (N = 27) using a narrative approach in (focus) groups; and (iii) the synthesised selection from (i) and (ii).

Psychomotor professionals selected body experience, movement experience, emotion regulation, stress regulation, and sensory awareness as the most relevant outcome domains. Patients selected body experience, social interaction, movement experience, emotion regulation, and integration of thinking, feeling and behaviour. After synthesising both selections, the five most relevant outcome domains for psychomotor therapy are body experience, movement experience, emotion regulation, social interaction, and stress regulation.

The five most relevant outcome domains with underlying PROs in psychomotor therapy in adult mental healthcare in the Netherlands have been identified and are broadly supported by psychomotor professionals and patients. These outcome domains provide the foundation for selecting PROMs for evaluating interventions and monitoring outcomes in psychomotor therapy.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11136-025-04119-2.

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