COVID made me do it… : the physiotherapist’s role in self-management

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the trigger and instigator of behaviour change in a very marked way in the field of Paediatric Physiotherapy locally. It has challenged and forced physiotherapists to adapt working practices and transition from face-to-face operation to remote online methods. Young patients and their caring families have had to move away from face-to-face interventions and learn to accept what physiotherapists have always been trying to advocate and teach, and that is self-management. Physiotherapists aim to encourage active participation in the rehabilitation journey, thereby teaching the patient and their carers how to cope and self-manage the chronic neurological condition. Due to the pandemic, families with children with complex and multiple needs, suddenly and unexpectedly lost access to almost all services in the national lockdown. Albeit, the enforced situation allowed one to appreciate the need and importance of psychological and physical self-care. Indeed, a new definition for health has been proposed by a group of researchers as “the ability to adapt and to selfmanage”. The preferred view on health must be adapted to encompass a new conceptual framework of health. This can support clinicians and health practitioners when communicating with patients as it focuses on empowerment of the patient. Change only happens when action is taken; when patients and their families are empowered and given the right tools to apply to their lives, they will learn how to become more independent and physiotherapists become merely the consultants and no longer a constant provider.