Adaptation of the Professional Training of Physiotherapists in Function of the Technological Impact in their Clinical Practice: Formative Realities in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

Background: Physiotherapy is one of the professions affected by the impact of technology on traditionally manual clinical practice tasks. The development of prototypes such as the WBAN (Wireless Body Area Network) exemplifies the application of technological advances in the field of rehabilitation. It is a sensor system for body-area network-based continuous health monitoring. This system communicates with computer-assisted physical rehabilitation and ambulatory monitoring applications. It is hypothesized that technological advancement studies will yield profound insights and actionable measures that will prepare the physiotherapy profession for the years to come. Objectives: Since an analysis of training realities in the Iberian Peninsula, we aim to understand how the professional training of physiotherapists is interpreted and adapted in response to the technological impact on clinical practice, identifying the needs for curricular adaptation of physiotherapy in relation to the technological development of physiotherapists' professional practice. Methods: This investigation will incorporate both quantitative and qualitative data. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the physiotherapy programmes on the Iberian Peninsula and the structure of technological implementation in the education of physiotherapists. Similarly, there will be a descriptive and analytic approach, obtaining pertinent information with analysis conducted in situ at HEIs - Higher Education Institutions with physiotherapy courses and a DELPHI process involving a panel of experts comprised of students, professors, and field researchers. Results: We identified approximately 77 physiotherapy programmes in Iberian Peninsula higher education institutions, 44 of which are public and 35 private. Five higher education institutions were receptive to the research approach where we were already present, analysing the introduction of rehabilitation technologies in the course curriculum, in the teaching structure of the clinical practise of physiotherapy, and in the positioning of professors and researchers in the field, as discussed in interviews and lectures held within the scope of this study. Conclusions: This research is still ongoing, but it is anticipated that the findings will clearly direct innovations in physiotherapy training regarding the skills and knowledge necessary for the correct use of rehabilitation technology in the clinical practise of future physiotherapists.