Strengthening Physiotherapy Education in Niger: The SUDA Project

The recent WHO report, (WHO 2016), Human Resources for Health, highlights the chronic shortage of health workers, particularly in developing countries. Currently in Africa, it is estimated that there is a shortage of 4.2... [ view full abstract ]

The recent WHO report, (WHO 2016), Human Resources for Health, highlights the chronic shortage of health workers, particularly in developing countries. Currently in Africa, it is estimated that there is a shortage of 4.2 million health workers, (WHO 2016). The WHO reports the need for 18 million additional health workers globally, primarily in low resource settings, by 2030, if the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3; ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’, is to be achieved. Key to this is to increase the number and quality of health professions programmes in low income countries, ensuring that graduates are capable of meeting local health needs (WHO 2016).

The SUDA project, a collaboration between the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) and Handicap International, aims to strengthen capacity in rehabilitation in West Africa, an objective of which is to improve physiotherapy education.

This paper describes the initial phase of the Niger project. Niger is a land-locked country in the Sahel region of West Africa with approximately 20 million people. It is ranked last (188^th) in the UNDP Human Development Index, (UNDP, 2015). Significant health challenges exist from communicable diseases such as malaria and HIV but in recent years, like many developing countries, Niger is experiencing a rise in incidence of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, resulting in a double burden for the country’s health system, (WHO Global Health Observatory 2015).

Methods:

The project spans a 15 month period from October 2016 to January 2018 and involves working with the physiotherapy school and physiotherapy association online and three week long visits to Niger. The first of these visits took place from 21^st-25^th November 2016. The specific objective of this visit was to complete an evaluation of the curriculum and put in place a plan of action in order to achieve the main objective of improving physical therapy education. This paper reports on the findings of this initial evaluation visit.

The week long evaluation was conducted in 2 phases: (A) orientation and (B) PESTEL and SWOT analysis workshop, (UNICEF, 2015). Orientation involved meeting with the Association of Physiotherapists of Niger (AKN), meetings and tour of the physiotherapy school, visits to clinical sites, and meeting with students. The workshop consisted of two parts: (i) PESTEL analysis followed by (ii) SWOT analysis and was conducted using the framework outlined by UNICEF, (2015).  Clinicians from a range of clinical sites, including those that contribute to teaching at the university and staff of the school attended the workshop.

Findings:

Strengths included a strong relationship between the school, association and WCPT mentors. Weaknesses included lack of awareness of the profession, insufficient information regarding the curriculum, lack of physical resources, equipment, books and teaching materials, and finally significant lack of human resources. Many challenges were described included socio-cultural barriers, lack of political support, cost of training and lack of career structure. There was agreement that there was now an opportunity to develop a very strong curriculum and training programme for physiotherapists and to adapt the training to the social and cultural environment.

Four main priorities for phase 1 of the project were identified: (i) Curriculum development (ii) development of practical skills resources, (iii) development of library and learning resources and (iv)development of clinical learning.

REFERENCES

World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Health Observatory. Niger: WHO statistical profile, 2015. [cited 14^th December 2016] Available from:http://who.int/gho/mortality_b...

World Health Organisation (WHO). Global strategy for human resources for health: Workforce 2030; 2016 [cited 15^th December 2016]. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitst...

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human development reports 2015. [cited 14^th December 2016] Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countri...

UNICEF, (2015).   SWOT AND PESTEL : Understanding your external and internal context for better planning and decision-making. [cited 21^st November 2016] Available from: http://www.unicef.org/knowledg...