Strategies to integrate physiotherapists into primary health care in South Africa.
Sholena Narain, Desmond Mathye
PMID 37065456WHAT IT FOUND
Nine experienced physiotherapy lecturers identified six strategies to integrate their profession into South Africa's primary care system.
They emphasized raising public awareness, influencing policy, transforming education to focus on prevention, broadening roles through task shifting, dismantling professional hierarchies, and increasing workforce numbers.
Key findings
01Participants identified six themes for integration: improving societal knowledge, ensuring policy representation, transforming education, broadening the role of physiotherapy, eradicating professional hierarchy, and increasing the workforce.
02Physiotherapy education currently promotes curative services at secondary and tertiary levels rather than primary health care, requiring a shift toward health promotion and prevention.
03Task shifting and role release were suggested to broaden physiotherapy roles, but are limited by regulations requiring practitioners to only perform acts for which they are adequately educated and trained.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small, consisting of only nine participants. All participants were academics with doctoral degrees who were not currently working at a primary health care level, which may limit the practical applicability of their insights to frontline clinical settings. The study did not include perspectives from clinical physiotherapists currently practicing in PHC.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these themes as evidence that these strategies have been tested or proven effective. This is a qualitative exploration of expert opinion, not an evaluation of intervention outcomes.