Autonomy-hindering scope for physiotherapy practice in African countries: Results of creatures and antinomies of regulatory laws

South African Journal of Physiotherapy

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Autonomy-hindering scope for physiotherapy practice in African countries: Results of creatures and antinomies of regulatory laws
 
Creator Useh, Ushotanefe
 
Subject Physiotherapy; Law physiotherapy; autonomy-hindering laws; Africa; jurisdictional scope; regulatory; legal; statuses
Description Background: Healthcare professionals in different countries are governed by laws and statutes for their scopes of practice to ensure that services are rendered by suitably licenced and qualified professionals in order to protect the public. A few of these laws are found to paradoxically hinder the autonomy of physiotherapy.Objective: My article documents the autonomy-hindering scope for physiotherapy practice in selected African countries.Method: The methodologies used in my article were both a review and comparative approach for the interpretation of statutes.Results: Three African countries presented a clear legal definition of physiotherapy in their regulatory frameworks and regulated other rehabilitation professions as well. In my article, these regulations are referred to as ‘combo regulations’. The rationale for ‘combo regulations’ is not clear and found to hinder professional autonomy. Only one statute from Rwanda provided a scope for physiotherapy that was not autonomy-hindering.Conclusion: There is, therefore, a need for urgent review of most laws regulating physiotherapy in the selected African countries to assist with the duty of protecting the public. All autonomy-hindering scopes for physiotherapy practice in African countries should be repealed and amended accordingly.Clinical implications: A clear scope shall assist with protecting the public and clinical practice and clearly states ‘what physiotherapy is and what it is not’.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor None
Date 2021-02-25
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Legal Review
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajp.v77i1.1518
 
Source South African Journal of Physiotherapy; Vol 77, No 1 (2021); 6 pages 2410-8219 0379-6175
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajp.co.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1518/2319 https://sajp.co.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1518/2318 https://sajp.co.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1518/2320 https://sajp.co.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1518/2317
 
Coverage South Africa and other African Countries Present day Scope of Practice
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Ushotanefe Useh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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