Physical activity in rehabilitation practice: Policy, infrastructure and development perspectives

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Science
• Health Services Research
• Physical Therapy

Background:

• Physical activity (PA) integration is crucial for patient recovery and quality of life in rehabilitation.
• Public healthcare settings face significant challenges in implementing PA due to policy gaps, infrastructure, and resource limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore therapists' perspectives on integrating physical activity into rehabilitation practices.
• To identify barriers and facilitators related to policy, infrastructure, and development for PA in rehabilitation.

Main Methods:

• Inductive thematic analysis of virtual, semi-structured interviews with 10 therapists.
• NVivo software was utilized for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Ten subthemes emerged, categorized under policy (2), infrastructure (4), and development (4) of PA in rehabilitation.
• Identified systemic barriers impacting the effective integration of physical activity.

Conclusions:

• Systemic barriers necessitate policy reforms, interprofessional collaboration, and investment in resources and infrastructure for effective PA integration.
• Current creative strategies to overcome challenges are limited in scope.
• Policy development and resource allocation are essential to address gaps in PA integration within rehabilitation.