THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON PHYSICAL THERAPY PRACTICE IN SURINAME AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PROFESSION

C. Ranoesetiko¹, R. Ramdas¹, M. Bersaoui¹, D. Lieuw¹, J. De Vries¹, R. Chin A Fat¹, C. Jakaoemo¹, S. Baldew¹

¹Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Physical Therapy, Paramaribo, Suriname

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the healthcare system worldwide and even disrupted physical therapy services, especially for hospitalized patients and patients with chronic diseases in need of rehabilitation. With the decreasing urgency, the strict prevention measures that were initiated by the World Health Organization are diminishing, and physical therapy services slowly return to normal. However, it is still unclear how these measures affect the physical therapy practice in regard to the current operating conditions and how the profession should adapt after the pandemic.

Purpose: We aimed to describe how the physical therapy profession in Suriname changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide implications for the future of the profession.

Methods: This is a qualitative descriptive study, where a digital self-developed questionnaire was used for registered Physical Therapists (PTs) in Suriname who were actively practicing between September and November 2021. PTs who started practicing at the time of pandemic were excluded. The questionnaire contained four open-ended questions based on the future change framework from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. The subjects of the questions were related to actions that need to be let go or restart and end or amplify. The first two questions described old actions in physical therapy practices earlier to the pandemic such as hands-on work, handshakes and group therapy while the last two questions described practices driven by the pandemic. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS. For each answer, codes were provided manually, whereas descriptive statistics were provided for each question.

Results: Forty PTs filled in the questionnaire but only 36 were eligible for analysis. Two main aspects emerged from our analysis. Regarding new practices driven by the pandemic, 81% of the PTs wanted to end the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and 61% wanted to stop maintaining physical distance. On the other hand, respectively 50% and 30%, wanted to intensify hygiene measures and telehealth services and 14% wanted to amplify the COVID-19 pre-screening procedures and the role of PTs in the care for COVID-19 patients. Regarding practices prior to the pandemic, 97% of PTs did not want to let go of any old actions. Respectively 42% and 12% wanted to proceed with group therapies and hands-on therapy.

Conclusions: COVID-19 had an impact on physical therapy practices in Suriname whereby some activities needed to be implemented to continue services. However, the majority of PTs want to end the use of PPE but intensify the hygiene measures and COVID-19 pre-screening procedures. Also, 30% want to intensify the use of telehealth while almost all PTs want to continue or restart actions from before the pandemic.

Implications: Proper response to pandemics needs consistent safety protocols to guarantee the continuity of physical therapy services. Future research should evaluate the current safety protocols and concentrate on the feasibility of telehealth, heightened hygiene and pre-screening measures.

Funding acknowledgements: This project was not funded.

Keywords:
COVID-19 pandemic
Physiotherapy practice
Adopted measures

Topics:
COVID-19
Professional issues: business skills, leadership, advocacy & change management
Service delivery/emerging roles

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Reason: No ethical approval was required according to the Ethical Committee of the ministry of Health in Suriname. This study describes and comments on adaptations in the physical therapy field to meet the changing needs of practice and it was done among fellow physical therapists who were capable of giving informed consent. At the beginning of the questionnaire, information about the study was provided to the participant and by filling out the questionnaire participants gave their consent. According to the ethical guidelines by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), a waiver of ethical approval is granted in studies of individuals capable of giving informed consent. Nevertheless, advice from the Ethical Committee of the ministry of Health in Suriname was obtained.