Future Challenges for Physical Therapy during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study on the Experience of Physical Therapists in Spain

Domingo Palacios-Ceña, César Fernández- de-las-Peñas, Lidiane L. Florencio, María Palacios-Ceña and Ana I. de-la-Llave-Rincón
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Domingo Palacios-Ceña: Research Group of Humanities and Qualitative Research in Health Science (Hum & QRinHS), Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Madrid, Spain
César Fernández- de-las-Peñas: Research Group of Manual Therapy, Dry Needling and Therapeutic Exercise (GITM-URJC), Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Madrid, Spain
Lidiane L. Florencio: Research Group of Manual Therapy, Dry Needling and Therapeutic Exercise (GITM-URJC), Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Madrid, Spain
María Palacios-Ceña: Research Group of Manual Therapy, Dry Needling and Therapeutic Exercise (GITM-URJC), Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Madrid, Spain
Ana I. de-la-Llave-Rincón: Research Group of Manual Therapy, Dry Needling and Therapeutic Exercise (GITM-URJC), Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: This qualitative exploratory study addressed the perspectives of Spanish physical therapists (PTs) regarding (a) the organization of their work during the first wave of the pandemic; (b) their role within the intensive care units (ICUs); (c) management of COVID-19 survivors; (d) potential future challenges identified for the physical therapy profession. Thirty PTs who had worked at a National Public Hospital in Madrid during the first COVID-19 outbreak were recruited by purposeful sampling and snowball techniques. In-depth interviews and researcher field notes were used to collect data. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. An inductive thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes. After identifying 1110 codes, four themes emerged. Throughout the first wave of the pandemic, the role and work of PTs in hospitals experienced a change. These changes took place at their organizational level, affecting the distribution of PTs in the hospital, and the role of PTs in front-line COVID units such as ICUs, as well as direct management of outpatients at the onset of the pandemic, and after discharge from the ICUs. This situation has led to PTs foreseeing challenges and developing new expectations concerning their role and the physical therapy profession in the future.

Keywords: COVID-19; outbreak; physical therapy; healthcare; qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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