Women's and men's health physiotherapy, the content covered and it's perceived importance within entry-level physiotherapy programs in Australia - an observational study

Journal article


Mcpherson, Kerstin, Nahon, Irmina and Waddington, Gordon. (2023). Women's and men's health physiotherapy, the content covered and it's perceived importance within entry-level physiotherapy programs in Australia - an observational study. European Journal of Physiotherapy. 25(1), pp. 27-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/21679169.2021.1956582
AuthorsMcpherson, Kerstin, Nahon, Irmina and Waddington, Gordon
Abstract

Purpose
Women’s and men’s health physiotherapy are expanding areas of clinical practice. The aims of this study were to examine the course content and its perceived importance of specific content on women’s and men’s health within physiotherapy programs and identify any barriers to delivering the content.

Methods
An online survey, with open and closed questions was distributed to universities in Australia with an entry-level physiotherapy program, in 2019. The ‘Likert’ scale responses were then analysed by assigning a scale from 1–5. The open responses were descriptively analysed for themes.

Results
There were 15 responses from the 22 university programs in Australia. Content that should be covered ‘well’ to ‘very well’ include pelvic floor first exercise; pelvic floor anatomy; incontinence urinary and bowel; exercise – during pregnancy and post-natal; pelvic girdle pain; pelvic organ prolapse; rectus diastasis; osteoporosis; the role of physiotherapist in maternity ward; and pelvic floor muscle assessment-external with real time ultrasound; and in men’s health: male culture and pelvic health; and prostate cancer pre and post-surgical rehabilitation. A barrier to teach content for some courses included space within the curriculum. Clinical placements and research projects were not available in all programs.

Conclusion
Women’s and men’s health content is perceived to be important to be taught in entry level physiotherapy programs. Identifying what is perceived important content to cover may assist future curriculum design.

Keywordswomen’s health; men’s health; physiotherapy; curriculum
Year2023
JournalEuropean Journal of Physiotherapy
Journal citation25 (1), pp. 27-32
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN2167-9169
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/21679169.2021.1956582
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85111632369
Page range27-32
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online26 Jul 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted09 Jul 2021
Deposited08 May 2025
Additional information

© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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