Abstract
Worthington C, Myers T, O’Brien K, Nixon S, Cockerill R, Bereket T. Rehabilitation
professionals and human immunodeficiency virus care: results of a national Canadian
survey.
Objective
To describe rehabilitation professionals’ practices, knowledge and training, professional
views, and service delivery issues for people living with human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (PHAs) in Canada.
Design
Nationwide cross-sectional postal survey.
Setting
Canada.
Participants
Random sample (N=2105) of occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language
pathologists, and physiatrists who had practiced in the past year.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Survey items on current practices, HIV knowledge and training, professional views
on rehabilitation and HIV, and HIV rehabilitation service delivery issues.
Results
Seventy-four percent (1492/2006) of the traceable sample responded, 53% (n=1058) of
whom yielded completed surveys. Sixty-one percent of survey respondents never knowingly
had served an HIV-positive patient. Of this group, 27% indicated these were patients
they would like to work with, 27% indicated they were unwilling, and 46% were unsure.
The 39% who knowingly had served PHAs had served an average of 4 PHAs in the last
year, and less than 25% of their HIV patients’ rehabilitation issues were HIV-related.
Conclusions
Despite the role rehabilitation professionals have to play in the care of PHAs, only
a minority serves PHAs. Results of this survey show a potential gap between the documented
rehabilitative needs of PHAs and services provided by the rehabilitation professional
community.
Key Words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Archives of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Declining morbidity and mortality among patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus infection.N Engl J Med. 1998; 338: 853-860
- HIV/AIDS Epi Update. Health Canada, Ottawa2004 (May)
Glynn M, Rhodes P. Estimated HIV prevalence in the United States at the end of 2003 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the National HIV Prevention Conference; 2005 Jun 12-15; Atlanta (GA). No. T1-B1101.
- Pre-AIDS physical disability: data from the AIDS Time-Oriented Health Outcome Study.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1998; 79: 1200-1205
- Impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions: prevalence and associations among persons living with HIV/AIDS in British Columbia.Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2004; 2: 46
- Rehabilitation medicine consultation in persons hospitalized with AIDS.Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1993; 72: 90-96
- Experience with rehabilitation in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1991; 70: 195-200
- Rehabilitation of the individual with HIV.in: DeLisa J. Gans B. Physical medicine and rehabilitation: principles and practice. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia2005: 1795-1809
- Physical and role functioning among persons with HIV: results from a nationally representative survey.Med Care. 2000; 38: 1210-1223
- Rehabilitation dimensions of AIDS: a review.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1991; 72: 690-696
- Rehabilitation in adults with human immunodeficiency virus-related diseases.Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1992; 71: 183-190
- Shifting perspectives: reconceptualizing HIV disease within a rehabilitation framework.Physiother Can. 2000; 52: 189-207
- Mail and internet surveys: the tailored design method.John Wiley & Sons, New York2000
- Rehabilitation in HIV/AIDS: development of an expanded conceptual framework.AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2005; 19: 258-271
- International classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF).WHO, Geneva2001
- HIV Specialists and rehabilitation: results of a National Canadian Survey.Can J Infect Dis. 2005; 16 ([abstract]): 44A
Worthington C, Myers T, O’Brien K, Cockerill R, Nixon S, Bereket T. HIV health professional referrals to community services and views of service challenges in a nationally-funded health-care system. Paper presented to: XVI International Conference on HIV/AIDS; 2006 Aug 13-19; Toronto (ON).
- Physiotherapists and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome: knowledge and prevention: a study in Durban, South Africa.Int J Rehabil Res. 2002; 25: 231-234
- Factors influencing anxiety concerning HIV/AIDS in rehabilitation workers.J Rehabil. 1996; 63: 45-51
- AIDS training and social services.AIDS Care. 1989; 1: 287-296
- The effect of professional education on the knowledge and attitudes of physical therapist and occupational therapist students about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.Phys Ther. 1998; 78: 1073-1082
- The effects of an AIDS education program on the knowledge and attitudes of a physical therapy class.Phys Ther. 1993; 73: 156-164
- Desire to treat HIV-infected patients: similarities and differences across health-care professions.AIDS. 1994; 8: 117-121
- Three medical schools’ responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the effect on students’ knowledge and attitudes.Acad Med. 1997; 72: 144-146
- Physician attitudes and experience regarding the care of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and related disorders (ARC).Med Care. 1987; 25: 675-685
- Integration of persons with HIV in a problem-based tutorial: a qualitative study.Teach Learn Med. 2003; 15: 257-261
- An interprofessional problem-based learning course on rehabilitation issues in HIV.Med Teach. 2003; 25: 408-413
- Are you positive?.Physiotherapy. 1997; 83: 190-196
- HIV/AIDS pandemic: comparative knowledge and roles of physiotherapists in two African countries.Physiotherapy. 2003; 89: 720-727
- A national portrait: a report on governments’ responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Canada.Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa2004
Article info
Footnotes
Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant no. HHP-64513); research fellowships provided by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network. The HIV Social, Behavioural and Epidemiological Studies Unit is funded by the AIDS Bureau, Ontario Ministry of Health, and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
