Williams, Anita E 2007, 'Critical review. part 3. Therapeutic footwear – still a Cinderella service? A critical review of the literature' , British Journal of Podiatry, 10 (3) , pp. 93-98.

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Abstract

Background That specialist therapeutic footwear has some clinical benefits has been demonstrated, but for these clinical benefits to be achieved the patient has to wear them. However, varying degrees of patient satisfaction with this footwear have been reportedleading to non or low use. There have been reports and recommendations for changes to address this problem. The purpose of this review therefore is to explore if these recommendations have impacted on patient care in improved patient satisfaction and use of the footwear. Method An electronic and hand search for papers from 1992 to 2006 was carried out. Results Ten papers investigating patient satisfaction and compliance with this footwear were reviewed, and six papers investigating the impact of the footwear service on these factors were also reviewed. Discussion There is still a problem of specialist therapeutic footwear not being worn. Research has focussed on the footwear itself and/or the service that provides it. There has been no research that has investigated the relationship between the patient and practitioner, and the influence of this on the patient’s engagement in this intervention. A deeper understanding of the patient’s experiences of being provided with this footwear is needed, and this may reveal factors that can influence the patient’s decision to wear the footwear.

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