History of Physiotherapy in Ghana: The Roles and Responsibilities of Physiotherapists and Job Opportunities.
History of Physiotherapy in Ghana: Beginning in the early 1940s, Mrs. Price, a British physical therapist, began practicing in Ghana.
The nation’s premier teaching hospital, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, near Accra, is where physiotherapy first gained popularity.
Early in the 1960s, Mrs. Price made arrangements for one male nurse to be sent to the U.K. for physiotherapy degree study. He returned and collaborated with Ms. Price in Ghana after finishing the course with a passing grade.
In the late 1960s, the government also paid for the degree-level training of additional students in physiotherapy in the United Kingdom. Mrs Price relocated to Kumasi in 1963 to start a physiotherapy department at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), another government building in Ghana’s Ashanti Region.
During that time, the Ministry of Health expanded physiotherapy to other Regional Hospitals in a slow, methodical manner.
The Ghanaian government sent nine (9) and twenty-two (22) students to Romania in 1974 and 1975, respectively, to study physiotherapy at the first-degree level.
Three (3) students were supported by the Ghanaian government to study undergraduate physiotherapy in the Netherlands in 2000 and fifteen (15) students were sponsored in 2001.
The Ministry of Health also started revamping physiotherapy services nationwide in 1997. Presently, every Regional Hospital has a complete ultra-modern physiotherapy unit. Physiotherapy training started at the University of Ghana in 2001.
The University of Health and Allied Sciences and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology also started training physiotherapists in 2014 and 2018 respectively. This has beefed up the number of physiotherapists in the Country, Ghana currently has about 500 physiotherapists and technicians trained locally.
A physiotherapist (also known as a physical therapist) is a vital component of the healthcare team whose role is to return patients to normal without the use of medications via the use of exercise, manual therapy, rehabilitation procedures, and physical activity.
A physical therapist’s profession includes assisting patients in recovering and/or rehabilitating from impairments such as neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiac, sports, geriatrics, and cancer. He or she is responsible for assisting in the restoration of the patient’s body to its ideal working level.
They are also important health experts in the prevention of injuries, especially on-field sports injuries, and in treating the body’s reactions and responses to injury, sickness, or developmental anomalies.
Physiotherapy has traditionally been a foundational discipline in the health sciences. Physiotherapists are specially trained to treat ailments.
They frequently use physical ways to aid in the therapy of injured patients.
Physiotherapy is also one of the best-paying professions in the world.
What is Physiotherapy?
What is Physiotherapy: Physiotherapy is a science-based programme that uses physical approaches such as exercise, massage, manipulation, and other therapies rather than medicine and surgery to treat injury, disease, and disorders.
A prospective physiotherapist can specialize in muscular and skeletal disorders, women’s health, elderly care, chest issues, workplace health and safety, sports injuries, newborns and young children, nervous system difficulties, spinal injuries, administration, education, or research.
How many years does it take to study physiotherapy in Ghana?
To become a physiotherapist in Ghana, it will take you four years to study physiotherapy in any of the universities offering the programme in Ghana. After your study, you need one extra year to do your internship and write the Allied Health Profession licensing exams to qualify as a registered physiotherapist. So, in total, you need 5 years to be a certified physiotherapist in Ghana.
How Much Does a Physiotherapist Earn in Ghana?
A Physiotherapist working in Ghana will earn around 103,600 GHS per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 48,560 GHS to the highest average salary of 159,400 GHS. The salary depends on various factors; i.e. level of education and specialty, the organization you are working for, the location, gender, and experience.
The Roles and Responsibilities of a Physiotherapist
The Roles and Responsibilities of a Physiotherapist in the Health Sector Include the:
The Role and Responsibilities of a Physiotherapist: Physiotherapy is a very promising, rewarding, and satisfactory profession as paramedical science has a larger role & responsibility in a hospital scenario. After clearing the licensing examination of a given country, it opens up wide opportunities for physiotherapists in the health industry.
Evaluating balance in neurologically affected patients.
Apply manual therapy, mobilization, manipulation of soft tissue techniques, etc.
Wheelchair and gait training with or without ambulatory aids.
Aid in-home evaluation to make the environment barrier-free and accessible.
Improving the status of patients with cardiopulmonary dysfunction.
Prescribing remedial exercises
Muscle strength evaluation & quantification
Physical treatment by electrotherapy modalities like diathermy, ultrasonic therapy, contrast bath, cryotherapy, hydro collator, whirlpool therapy, trans-electric muscle stimulation, infra-red therapy, ultraviolet therapy, etc, and also different therapeutic exercises by automated machines.
What Do Physiotherapists Do?
What Do Physiotherapists Do: A professional physiotherapist is trained to provide treatment for a variety of diseases and injury conditions. Physiotherapists offer treatments relating to the following conditions:
Women’s health concerns: addressing pregnancy, delivery, post-partum care, nursing, menopause, bedwetting, prolapsed, and loss of bladder or bowel control.
Musculoskeletal: preventing and treating clients with musculoskeletal conditions such as neck and back pain.
Cardiorespiratory: providing support, prevention, and rehabilitation for people suffering from diseases and injuries that affect the heart and lungs, such as asthma.
Cancer, palliative care, and lymphedema: treating, managing, or preventing fatigue, pain, muscle and joint stiffness, and deconditioning.
Incontinence: managing and preventing incontinence and pelvic floor dysfunction.
Neurological: enhancing mobility and quality of life in patients who have suffered serious brain or spinal cord injury as a result of trauma, or who suffer from neurological disorders such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.
Orthopedic: helping patients prevent or manage acute or chronic orthopedic conditions such as arthritis and amputations.
Pain: managing or preventing pain and its impact on function in patients.
How to Become a Physiotherapist in Ghana
How to Become a Physiotherapist in Ghana: To become a physiotherapist, you have to complete a degree in physiotherapy at university and pass the Allied Health Council Exams. To get into these courses you usually need to gain your Senior Secondary Certificate of Education.
Prerequisite subjects, or assumed knowledge, in one or more of English, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics are normally required. You may also be required to attend an interview. Universities have different prerequisites and some have flexible entry requirements.
Physiotherapy schools in Ghana
List of Physiotherapy schools in Ghana
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
University of Allied and Health Sciences
University of Ghana
Entry Requirements for Physiotherapy
A’ LEVEL HOLDERS
Credit passes in FIVE (5) subjects at GCE Ordinary Level including English Language and
Mathematics and Three (3) Credit passes at Advanced Level in Biology, Chemistry, and either Mathematics or Physics.
WASSCE/SSSCE APPLICANTS
Applicants for a physiotherapy degree in Ghana are expected to have credit passes in English, Core Mathematics, and Integrated Science.
In addition, they’re also expected to have credit passes in Chemistry, Physics, and either Biology or Elective Mathematics.
Specialization in physiotherapy
Specialty in Physiotherapy: Physiotherapists can specialize in the various specialty listed below:
Pediatrics Physiotherapy
Obstetrics Physiotherapy
Geriatrics Physiotherapy
Post Operative Physiotherapy
Cardiovascular Physiotherapy
Sports Physiotherapy
Neurology Physiotherapy
Orthopedic Physiotherapy
Job Opportunities for physiotherapist
Sports Physiotherapists along with Sports Associations, Sports Team, individually hired physiotherapists by elite athletes
Entrepreneurs in Rehabilitation Centers/ Organizations
Private Practitioners running Private Physiotherapy Practice
Consultant Physiotherapist in Multi-specialty Hospitals, Health Care Centers, NGOs
Corporate Physiotherapists in MNCs
Health Care Physiotherapy Instructor in Modern Gymnasiums
Ergonomic Care Advisor
Physiotherapist in Special Schools for Physically Challenged Children
Physiotherapist in Old Age Residential Homes
Lecturer
Clinical Researcher
Physiotherapy Hospitals in Ghana
All teaching, Regional, including 37 Hospitals have a physiotherapy unit.
Other private facilities also have the unit.
