Hand therapy: Inclusive care by South African physiotherapists

South African Journal of Physiotherapy

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Hand therapy: Inclusive care by South African physiotherapists
 
Creator Keller, Monique M.
 
Subject — physiotherapists; occupational therapists; scope of practice; hand therapy; hand rehabilitation; upper limb rehabilitation; curriculum
Description Hand therapy for individuals who sustained hand injuries is included in the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) physiotherapy scope of practice. The training that physiotherapists receive at the undergraduate level lays the foundation for them to deliver hand therapy or hand rehabilitation according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health domains in a uniquely South African health service context. Further structured formal and informal postgraduate continued education opportunities may put physiotherapists in the ideal position in a multidisciplinary team to deliver optimal hand therapy. The problem is that the physiotherapist’s role in the multidisciplinary team delivering hand therapy in the past two decades has decreased, leaving room for a lack of health professional services in South Africa’s private sector where physiotherapists are often the first consultation in, for example, sports teams, but more pertinently, in the public and rural areas. The International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT) practice profile and physiotherapy scope of practice, curriculum and education information assist in achieving the aim of this commentary to position physiotherapists in South Africa as primary health practitioners in delivering hand therapy.Clinical implication: The effective management of individuals with hand-related conditions and injuries is pertinent to ensure optimal hand function and quality of life. Equal continued formal education opportunities should thus be created for all multidisciplinary team professions at a postgraduate level.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2023-11-24
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajp.v79i1.1942
 
Source South African Journal of Physiotherapy; Vol 79, No 1 (2023); 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/1942/3467 https://sajp.co.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1942/3468 https://sajp.co.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1942/3469 https://sajp.co.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1942/3470
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2023 Monique M. Keller https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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