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Medical science and other sources, such as the media, increasingly inform the general public's understanding of disease. There is often discordance between this understanding and the diagnostic interpretations of health care practitioners (HCPs). In this paper – based on a supra-analysis of qualitative interview data from two studies of joint pain, including osteoarthritis – we investigate how people imagine and make sense of the pathophysiology of their illness, and how these understandings may affect self-management behavior. We then explore how HCPs' use of medical images and models can inform patients' understanding. In conceptualizing their illness to make sense of their experience of the disease, individuals often used visualizations of their inner body; these images may arise from their own lay understanding, or may be based on images provided by HCPs. When HCPs used anatomical models or medical images judiciously, patients' orientation to their illness changed. Including patients in a more collaborative diagnostic event that uses medical images and visual models to support explanations about their condition may help them to achieve a more meaningful understanding of their illness and to manage their condition more effectively. Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a leading cause of pain and years lived with disability, and despite its being common, patients and healthcare professionals often have a different understanding of the underlying disease. An individual's understanding of his or her pathophysiology plays an important role in making sense of painful joint conditions and in decision-making about self-management and care. Including patients in a more collaborative diagnostic event using medical images and anatomical models to support explanations about their symptoms may help them to better understand their condition and manage it more effectively. Using visually informed explanations and anatomical models may also help to reassure patients about the safety and effectiveness of core treatments such as physical exercise and thereby help restore or improve patients' activity levels and return to social participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper explores the barriers which people with disabilities experience in accessing health care services in Malawi. Methodology: Fifty-two in-depth interviews were conducted with people with various types of disabilities. These interviews were conducted in four districts in Malawi: Blantyre and Phalombe in the Southern Region; Ntchisi in the Central Region, and Rumphi in the North. A team of trained research assistants conducted the interviews. Results: The major challenges that people with disabilities experience include the cost of accessing health care, long distances to health facilities, lack of transport, hilly terrains and flooding of rivers during the rainy season, communication challenges with the health providers and poor attitude of health workers. Some of these challenges are not unique to people with disabilities, but constitute more of a problem among people with disabilities. Conclusion: There is a need to address these challenges through the expansion of the provision of assistive devices, implementing comprehensive outreach services targeting people with disabilities and strengthening the links between key component of access to quality health care. Attitudinal barriers and lack of resources remain major challenges. Implications for rehabilitation: Though people with disabilities face challenges accessing health care world-wide, the challenges are greater in low-income countries. The current study in Malawi confirms this. Major challenges include costs of care, transport costs, and inaccessible facilities. Lack of health worker awareness and attitudinal barriers are major issues of concern. It is imperative, given this situation, that effort is spent in Malawi and similar contexts on dealing with issues of stigma and discrimination especially in the health care sector. It is also important to explore cost-effective ways of assisting people with disabilities accessing appropriate transport, which should be seen as part of the healthcare system. Though the cost of providing equitable care may be high in low-income contexts, this is a human right. Training and creating an accessible and disability-friendly service environment is a key priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]