Mama LLC, Canton, Massachusetts, USA.
Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA.
Phys Ther. 2024 Oct 2;104(10). doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzae136.
As the field evolves as a doctoring profession, the role and scope of physical therapist practice must also grow to meet important and urgent public health needs. Scalable, population-level interventions must be prioritized to the same degree as tailored, individual-level care. Drawing from public health frameworks, this perspective proposes an approach to population-level physical therapist care delivery that aims to mitigate disease and disability and improve health outcomes by expanding access, decreasing cost, and improving quality of care for those facing the greatest health disparities. Application of these frameworks prompts the development of novel approaches to rehabilitation service delivery to advance twin goals of promoting access to care and reducing health disparities. This paper describes how a population health framework and public health approach can be used to support necessary evolution and innovation within the field of physical therapy and to improve rehabilitation service delivery. Rapid developments in the digital and virtual health space have created a unique opportunity for physical therapists to lean into a new vision of their role as clinicians within the broader health ecosystem. This paper will provide clinicians with a broader perspective of physical therapist expertise and describe opportunities for the development and application of a physical therapist skill set toward driving population health outcomes. Real-world examples will guide clinicians to consider opportunities in their own practice for implementing this public health approach and potentially addressing various contributors to persistent health disparities.
随着医学专业的发展，物理治疗师的角色和实践范围也必须扩大，以满足重要和紧迫的公共卫生需求。必须优先考虑可扩展的、针对整个人群的干预措施，与针对个体的、量身定制的护理同等重视。本文从公共卫生框架出发，提出了一种针对整个人群的物理治疗师护理提供方法，旨在通过扩大服务对象范围、降低成本和提高护理质量，减轻疾病和残疾，改善健康结果，从而解决面临最大健康差异的人群的问题。应用这些框架可以促使我们开发新的康复服务提供方法，以促进获得护理的机会并减少健康差异。本文描述了如何使用人口健康框架和公共卫生方法来支持物理治疗领域的必要发展和创新，并改善康复服务的提供。数字和虚拟健康领域的快速发展为物理治疗师提供了一个独特的机会，使其能够在更广泛的健康生态系统中，将其作为临床医生的角色重新定位。本文将为临床医生提供更广阔的视角，了解物理治疗师的专业知识，并描述开发和应用物理治疗师技能的机会，以推动人口健康结果。实际案例将引导临床医生思考在自己的实践中实施这种公共卫生方法的机会，并可能解决持续存在的健康差异的各种影响因素。
