ShahAli S, Shahabi S, Etemadi M, Hedayati M, Anne BC, Mojgani P, Behzadifar M, Lankarani KB. Barriers and facilitators of integrating physiotherapy into primary health care settings: A systematic scoping review of qualitative research.
Heliyon 2023;
9:e20736. [PMID:
37860510 PMCID:
PMC10582494 DOI:
10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20736]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose
This scoping review investigated the barriers and facilitators to integrating physiotherapy into primary health care (PHC).
Materials and methods
PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, ProQuest, and REHABDATA were searched. Two independent reviewers were involved in screening, selecting, and extracting data. Data were synthesized using thematic analysis.
Results
Of the 483 screened documents, 44 qualitative studies, primarily from high-income countries, were included. All of the studies had good methodological quality. Barriers and facilitators of integrating physiotherapy into PHC were extracted within the WHO six building blocks framework. In total, 41 items were identified as barriers to the integration process. The studies included 49 recommendations to facilitate integrating physiotherapy services into PHC.
Conclusion
Integrating physiotherapy services into PHC faces many barriers. The most commonly suggested potential barriers are poor knowledge of physicians about physiotherapy, ineffective teamwork, physiotherapists' time constraints/workload, a lack of clarity over the role and knowledge of physiotherapists, unawareness of physiotherapy users about these services, and lack of intra- and inter-professional collaborations. The most commonly suggested recommendations to facilitate the integration process include: Clarifying the role of involved professionals, strengthening teamwork, improving intra- and inter-professional collaborations, and providing comprehensive training programs for physiotherapists.
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