Palliative care in physical therapy teaching

Abstract

Introduction: The participation of physical therapy in palliative care presupposes interventions aimed at improving patient comfort, reducing hospitalization time, and facilitating the management of physical, emotional, social and spiritual issues arising from a diagnosis of serious illness or potentially life threatening. However, despite its growing importance, the teaching of palliative care still needs to be prioritized in the training of health professionals. Objective: To analyze the inclusion of palliative care as a theme in the teaching of physical therapy, from the perspective of physiotherapists teaching at a public university. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative methodology. Data collection includes the use of an online questionnaire in Google Forms format, designed to respond to the survey objectives. Results: Twenty-three professors from a state public university, located in the north of the country, participated in the study. The data indicated that palliative care is considered a relevant content for the training of future physical therapists, and should be prioritized in the course's curricular series. Conclusion: The results showed that there are gaps in teaching about palliative care during graduation in physical therapy, particularly with regard to the discussion on patient autonomy.