We are really proud to announce that Physiopedia is a partner of PREP – Physiotherapy and Refugee Education Project.
The demography of Europe is changing. There is a significant migration of refugees fleeing violence and persecution who make the tortuous journey towards Europe. While many arrive through Greece and along the Mediterranean, the goal of the displaced populations is not to remain there. Most make their way to Scandinavia seeking a better life, employment, education and acceptance.
Due to the tortuous conditions in their home country as well as the toll of the journey across Europe, the refugees are likely to be suffer from poor overall health. They are also susceptible to picking up diseases and illnesses along the way during their battle to safety.
From a rehabilitation and health perspective this population struggle to have their health needs met in their new countries, particularly from a physiotherapy perspective. As a profession we know very little about the knowledge, skills and competencies that we need to enable our colleagues around the continent to help those who who really need us.
New Research to Develop Competencies – PREP
The PREP project is lead by Dr. Maria Nordheim Alme and is a partnership between a huge number of academic organisations which include Physiopedia. With the clout of ERASMUS funding this is a really exciting project we are happy to be a part of.
The overall aim of the project is to create a free online course for physiotherapists to enable them to meet the needs of the refugees who find themselves in their new country.
To get to the point of course creation many smaller targets need to happen. One of which will be a scoping project to understand what knowledge and skills are needed to be effective in these settings. This will likely take the form of interviews with refugees, physiotherapists and health politicians.
Once the scoping project has taken place, a curriculum will be created. From this new curriculum, a course will be created, tested, evaluated and finally published.
Physiopedia is really proud of being a part of PREP and we would love you to come on this journey with us. You can follow the project on Facebook, Twitter and on Physiopedia. Soon the project will have its very own website, but for now follow on social media and join us by showing your support for this fantastic cause.