Today is World Physical Therapy Day – a day to celebrate the work of physical therapists around the world.
HVO currently operates eight physical therapy projects in Asia, South America, Central America, Africa and the Caribbean, with sponsorship support from the American Physical Therapy Association. While each project has unique goals that we’ve tailored to the needs of the health institutions where they are based, all focus on honing the skills of physical therapy health workers to improve patient care. Around the world, HVO volunteers offer training in a variety of essential therapy topics including stroke recovery, neonatal developmental care, wheelchair mobility skills, mobilization techniques, pain management and more.
As volunteers work alongside their colleagues overseas, they’ve witnessed a number of changes in the quality of life for patients thanks to the skills they’ve helped to impart. We’ve received numerous stories of impact on health workers and patients alike. One recent volunteer to our project in Rwanda reported of her work:
I taught a process of clinical reasoning that began with identification of functional problems that the patient wanted to change, analysis of why the patient had problems with function through examination skills, and treatment directed at the causes of the dysfunction. This way of thinking was new to the therapists.
In small group discussions at the end of the course I was encouraged to listen to the therapists challenge each other by asking, ‘What were the functional problems?’ and ‘Why do you think the patient has those problems?’ If they can answer those questions they can treat the patient individually, and the patients got better when they did this!”
Physical therapy improves lives. It helps in recovery after major accidents and surgery, it helps ensure proper development in infants, and it can give patients independence even when disability threatens to impair them. We’re proud of the work of our volunteers and grateful to the physical therapy workers around the world working to transform patient’s lives.