Ricketts H1, Kanan W2, Moses R3
1St Georges University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Therapies, London, United Kingdom, 2Medical Aid for Palestinians, Gaza, Palestine, 3Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, Preston, United Kingdom
Background: Physiotherapists in the occupied Palestinian territories work within a limited healthcare infrastructure and have limited access to continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities. Many adjuncts to respiratory physiotherapy, that have been demonstrated to improve effectiveness of physiotherapy, are commonplace worldwide but are not available in Gaza.
This educational programme aimed to provide up to date education to develop practical skills and facilitate evidence based practice to enhance the respiratory physiotherapy management of patients in Gaza.
Purpose: This programme was developed to enhance clinical assessment and treatment skills and to challenge barriers and beliefs surrounding the role of respiratory physiotherapists. It aimed to empower the physiotherapists to develop their skills in line with worldwide practice and promote the role of the respiratory physiotherapist across Gaza.
Methods: Prior to delivering the training, a clinical visit was undertaken to provide insight into current practice and the clinical environment. Consequently, the educational programme was adapted to best meet the clinical needs in line with the clinical skills observed and the challenges regarding procurement of equipment.
Two courses were completed, both comprising of three intensive days of training. The course structure included lectures, case studies, demonstrations and practical sessions.
Prior to attending the course, the physiotherapists completed questionnaires and an examination to evaluate their knowledge and understanding. This same examination was repeated on completion of the training programme.
Results: There was a significant improvement in mean evaluation scores from a baseline of 49.34% to 76.22% following the training course (p 0.0001). There was also a significant improvement in self-reported confidence from 5.29 to 8.43 on a ten point Likert scale (p 0.0001).
Conclusion(s):
In light of the restriction in travel and limited CPD opportunities, the following recommendations and measures were put in place to retain skills and continue development.
Implications: A valuable component of this training programme was enabling the physiotherapists of Gaza to learn of the autonomous, respected role of the respiratory physiotherapist in the UK. Aspects of this role that are standard practice and enable a thorough assessment and delivery of evidenced based treatment, had previously been deemed the role of other health professionals within Gaza. This training empowered clinicians to utilise these skills to best inform their treatment delivery and demonstrate the role physiotherapists have in the management of cardiorespiratory illness.
The clinical visit and experience of delivering the programme highlighted specific clinical areas to focus further training and development to develop services that did not currently exist, including pulmonary rehabilitation.
Keywords: physiotherapy, education, cardiorespiratory
Funding acknowledgements: This educational project was kindly funded by the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).
This educational programme aimed to provide up to date education to develop practical skills and facilitate evidence based practice to enhance the respiratory physiotherapy management of patients in Gaza.
Purpose: This programme was developed to enhance clinical assessment and treatment skills and to challenge barriers and beliefs surrounding the role of respiratory physiotherapists. It aimed to empower the physiotherapists to develop their skills in line with worldwide practice and promote the role of the respiratory physiotherapist across Gaza.
Methods: Prior to delivering the training, a clinical visit was undertaken to provide insight into current practice and the clinical environment. Consequently, the educational programme was adapted to best meet the clinical needs in line with the clinical skills observed and the challenges regarding procurement of equipment.
Two courses were completed, both comprising of three intensive days of training. The course structure included lectures, case studies, demonstrations and practical sessions.
Prior to attending the course, the physiotherapists completed questionnaires and an examination to evaluate their knowledge and understanding. This same examination was repeated on completion of the training programme.
Results: There was a significant improvement in mean evaluation scores from a baseline of 49.34% to 76.22% following the training course (p 0.0001). There was also a significant improvement in self-reported confidence from 5.29 to 8.43 on a ten point Likert scale (p 0.0001).
Conclusion(s):
In light of the restriction in travel and limited CPD opportunities, the following recommendations and measures were put in place to retain skills and continue development.
- Development of international mentors in specific clinical fields
- Peer support network amongst physiotherapists in Gaza and access to international peer support networks
- Two individuals that excelled during the courses received free membership to professional bodies (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care) to enable access to virtual community of peers, access to training and resources.
- Recommendations for online resources and training modules
- Ongoing CPD opportunities through the medium of skype to enable remote access to conferences.
Implications: A valuable component of this training programme was enabling the physiotherapists of Gaza to learn of the autonomous, respected role of the respiratory physiotherapist in the UK. Aspects of this role that are standard practice and enable a thorough assessment and delivery of evidenced based treatment, had previously been deemed the role of other health professionals within Gaza. This training empowered clinicians to utilise these skills to best inform their treatment delivery and demonstrate the role physiotherapists have in the management of cardiorespiratory illness.
The clinical visit and experience of delivering the programme highlighted specific clinical areas to focus further training and development to develop services that did not currently exist, including pulmonary rehabilitation.
Keywords: physiotherapy, education, cardiorespiratory
Funding acknowledgements: This educational project was kindly funded by the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).
Topic: Education: methods of teaching & learning; Education: continuing professional development; Cardiorespiratory
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: N/A
Ethics committee: N/A
Reason not required: not applicable for this project
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
