Igwesi-Chidobe Chinonso
Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, 400006 Enugu, Nigeria.
Rehabil Res Pract. 2012;2012:909675. doi: 10.1155/2012/909675. Epub 2012 Aug 30.
Background. Many people continue to live with physical disabilities across the globe, especially in rural Africa despite expertise of Physiotherapists and available evidence of effectiveness of Physiotherapy. Objective. To determine the obstacles to obtaining Optimal Physiotherapy services in a rural community in Southeastern Nigeria. Methods. Population-based cross-sectional study of individuals and health facilities in a rural community in Southeastern Nigeria. Results. The obstacles to obtaining optimal physiotherapy services in this community were unavailability of physiotherapy services, poor knowledge of health workers and community dwellers of the roles and scope of physiotherapy, poor health care seeking behavior of community dwellers, patronage of traditional health workers, and poor referral practices by health workers. Conclusion. Rural health workers in Nkanu West Local Government and other rural communities in Nigeria and Africa should be educated on the roles and scope of physiotherapy. There is a need for raising awareness of the management options for movement/functional problems for rural indigenous communities in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. Physiotherapists should be made aware of the growing need for physiotherapy in rural areas of Nigeria and Africa largely comprising of the elderly.
背景。尽管有物理治疗师的专业知识以及物理治疗有效性的现有证据，但全球仍有许多人，尤其是非洲农村地区的人，继续生活在身体残疾之中。目的。确定尼日利亚东南部一个农村社区获得最佳物理治疗服务的障碍。方法。对尼日利亚东南部一个农村社区的个人和卫生设施进行基于人群的横断面研究。结果。该社区获得最佳物理治疗服务的障碍包括物理治疗服务不可用、卫生工作者和社区居民对物理治疗的作用和范围了解不足、社区居民寻求医疗保健的行为不佳、求助于传统卫生工作者以及卫生工作者的转诊做法不当。结论。应向尼日利亚恩卡努西地方政府及尼日利亚和非洲其他农村社区的农村卫生工作者传授物理治疗的作用和范围。有必要提高特别是尼日利亚农村土著社区以及整个非洲对运动/功能问题管理选项的认识。应让物理治疗师意识到尼日利亚和非洲农村地区对物理治疗的需求不断增长，这些地区主要是老年人。
