EN
Background: Touch is playing an important role in human’s life. Thanks to it, people can discover the world around them, communicate emotions and create strong bonds. Touch is significant part of every human relationship and especially the relationship between physiotherapist- patient, because the touch is the basic tool of a physiotherapist’s daily life. The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate how the physiotherapists perceive the touch and if they know and follow right recommendations of touch. Material and methods: 80 therapists took part in the study (39 female, 41 male). Average age 30, 36 years (SD 6, 62) and average work experience 6, 62 years (SD 5, 05). They were asked to complete a questionnaire (28 questions) pertaining three aspects of the touch: physiotherapist’s attitude towards touch, psychological aspects of touch and circumstances assuring a comfort of touching. Results: According to the answers physiotherapists treat touch mainly as a technical tool of gathering information and treating. They are aware of influence of the touch on a patient’s psyche and body, it is working in both directions; physiotherapist <=> patient. The majority neither feels nor have any emotions while touching a patient. The respondents made sure that they follow the recommendations of right touch: respecting patients’ rights to autonomy, privacy, information and therapists cared enough about comfort and safeness of their patients. Conclusions: The respondents use the touching as a technical tool while they neglect its psychosocial side. They know and they follow the recommendations of touch in correct way.