Abstract
Background: Importance of community rehabilitation in India has been emphasized in previous research. There is ample research that has been published for different communities in the country. However, the precise role of physiotherapy in community rehabilitation is unclear.The objective of the current brief report is to look into the role of physiotherapy in community rehabilitation. Methods: Relevant literature search was done using databases namely Medline, Scopus, PubMed, PEDro and CINAHL using search terms- India, community rehabilitation, home rehabilitation, home exercises and physiotherapy. Studies that followed the PICO format, published in English,after 2005 and that had specifically mentioned the role of physiotherapy in community projects were included. Results: While there are handful of studies that have mentioned the contribution of physiotherapy in the community, most of the interventions are targeted toward management of chronic health conditions. More work needs to be done to outline the importance and precise role of physiotherapy in the rehabilitation of communities in India, especially in preventive care.A model has been created to emphasize the holistic approach of physiotherapy in the Indian setting. Conclusion: Physiotherapy has a pivotal position in community rehabilitation in India.However, published research for the same is lacking. While physiotherapy interventions have been designed to target chronic health conditions in the community, emphasis on preventive care is lacking.
Highlights
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), with a population of 1.295 billion and still growing, public health expenditure sums to 30%, which includes expenditure on curative as well as preventive services, among others
There have been country-wide community rehabilitation by skilled professionals for selected health conditions in India like trained caregivers for stroke,[3,4] trained workers from community for psychosis,[5] speech language pathology services for children with cleft palate,[6] ophthalmologist trained community workers for the blind,[7] trained workers for persons with disabilities,[8,9,10] medical staff for neuritis,[2] home care advisors who were supervised by a counselor and a psychiatrist for dementia,[11] leisure specialists for spinal cord injured community dwellers,[12] mental health workers trained from the community for schizophrenia,[13] community health workers for acute coronary syndrome,[14] with the need for Community based rehabilitation (CBR) for other health conditions.[15,16]
“because CBR cannot be described as a discrete intervention, and the expected outcomes are not standardised, its effectiveness is hard to establish.”[1]. In addition, it has been noted that research in CBR is seldom published by the low and middle income countries,[1,17,18] where the need for this type of rehabilitation can be anticipated to be more; there is ample work on institution based rehabilitation
Summary
The precise role of physiotherapy in community rehabilitation is unclear. The objective of the current brief report is to look into the role of physiotherapy in community rehabilitation. Studies that followed the PICO format, published in English, after 2005 and that had mentioned the role of physiotherapy in community projects were included. Results: While there are handful of studies that have mentioned the contribution of physiotherapy in the community, most of the interventions are targeted toward management of chronic health conditions. More work needs to be done to outline the importance and precise role of physiotherapy in the rehabilitation of communities in India, especially in preventive care. While physiotherapy interventions have been designed to target chronic health conditions in the community, emphasis on preventive care is lacking
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
