Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.

Introduction: Contemporary health policy promotes delivery of community-based health services to people with musculoskeletal conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This emphasis requires a skilled workforce to deliver safe, effective care. We aimed to explore physiotherapy workforce readin...

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Main Authors: Fary, Robyn, Slater, Helen, Chua, Jason, Briggs, Andrew
Format: Journal Article
Published: Hindawi Publishing Company 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28564
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author Fary, Robyn
Slater, Helen
Chua, Jason
Briggs, Andrew
author_facet Fary, Robyn
Slater, Helen
Chua, Jason
Briggs, Andrew
author_sort Fary, Robyn
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Introduction: Contemporary health policy promotes delivery of community-based health services to people with musculoskeletal conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This emphasis requires a skilled workforce to deliver safe, effective care. We aimed to explore physiotherapy workforce readiness to co-manage consumers with RA by determining the RA-specific professional development (PD) needs in relation to work and educational characteristics of physiotherapists in Western Australia (WA). Methods. An e-survey was sent to physiotherapists regarding their confidence in co-managing people with RA and their PD needs. Data including years of clinical experience, current RA clinical caseload, professional qualifications, and primary clinical area of practice were collected. Results. 273 physiotherapists completed the survey. Overall confidence in managing people with RA was low (22.7–58.2%) and need for PD was high (45.1–95.2%). Physiotherapists with greater years of clinical experience, a caseload of consumers with RA, postgraduate qualifications in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, or who worked in the musculoskeletal area were more confident in managing people with RA and less likely to need PD. Online and face-to-face formats were preferred modes of PD delivery. Discussion. To enable community-based RA service delivery to be effectively established, subgroups within the current physiotherapy workforce require upskilling in the evidence-based management of consumers with RA.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-285642017-09-13T15:36:21Z Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists. Fary, Robyn Slater, Helen Chua, Jason Briggs, Andrew Introduction: Contemporary health policy promotes delivery of community-based health services to people with musculoskeletal conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This emphasis requires a skilled workforce to deliver safe, effective care. We aimed to explore physiotherapy workforce readiness to co-manage consumers with RA by determining the RA-specific professional development (PD) needs in relation to work and educational characteristics of physiotherapists in Western Australia (WA). Methods. An e-survey was sent to physiotherapists regarding their confidence in co-managing people with RA and their PD needs. Data including years of clinical experience, current RA clinical caseload, professional qualifications, and primary clinical area of practice were collected. Results. 273 physiotherapists completed the survey. Overall confidence in managing people with RA was low (22.7–58.2%) and need for PD was high (45.1–95.2%). Physiotherapists with greater years of clinical experience, a caseload of consumers with RA, postgraduate qualifications in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, or who worked in the musculoskeletal area were more confident in managing people with RA and less likely to need PD. Online and face-to-face formats were preferred modes of PD delivery. Discussion. To enable community-based RA service delivery to be effectively established, subgroups within the current physiotherapy workforce require upskilling in the evidence-based management of consumers with RA. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28564 10.1155/2012/240689 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Hindawi Publishing Company fulltext
spellingShingle Fary, Robyn
Slater, Helen
Chua, Jason
Briggs, Andrew
Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.
title Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.
title_full Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.
title_fullStr Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.
title_full_unstemmed Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.
title_short Translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: Targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.
title_sort translating policy into practice for community-based management of rheumatoid arthritis: targeting professional development needs among physiotherapists.
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28564