Work related musculoskeletal conditions are prevalent in many countries, regardless of the state of occupational health services. Presenters will illustrate how occupational health physiotherapy (OHP) practice plays out in different regions of World Physiotherapy using case studies to demonstrate how work activities and environment may predispose workers to such conditions.
Starting with a brief overview of some important demographic and legislative similarities and differences, the focus will shift to examples from the manufacturing sector in Colombia and office settings in Africa. Video recordings and photos of workplaces and work design issues will enable participants to see some challenging contemporary work conditions that may lead to Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WRMSDs).
The cases will allow the identification and assessment of contributing risk factors for WRMSDs, highlighting health and safety interventions at both individual and organisational levels. Presenters will demonstrate their clinical reasoning process, using theoretical models typically used by OHP practitioners, and they will share their approaches taken to promote health, reduce risk, and manage injury.
This seminar will be supported by recent evidence about injury prevention and work injury management and the health benefits of work, aligned to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards good health and well-being (SDG 3), gender equality and empowerment of all women (SDG 5), and decent work towards economic growth (SDG 8). The advanced skills required by physiotherapists working in this field and their scope of practice in countries with different practice settings will be highlighted together with a brief statement about opportunities for education of students and graduates in the OHP field. The audience will see how the spectrum from work injury prevention to work injury management plays out, together with contextual factors that influence access to physiotherapy care, and the scope of physiotherapists practice in this specialty.
This session draws on practices from three different geographical areas of World Physiotherapy (Africa, South Americas and Asia Western Pacific Regions), and highlights countries with different economic status (developed: Australia; high middle income: Colombia; and low middle income: Kenya, the Philippines).
Context influences practice, and this will be described through different approaches of work injury prevention, injury management and facilitation of return to work in the speakers’ respective healthcare systems which reflect diverse stakeholder groups.
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