Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences Physiotherapy Department organized the “Being a Physiotherapist in Covid-19” event. Istanbul Gelişim University Physiotherapy Department Lecturer Mustafa Ferit Akkurt, Acıbadem Hospital Specialist Physiotherapist Burcu Kocabey, Specialist Physiotherapist Nilay Güven, Specialist Physiotherapist Dilara Kamiloğlu, and Specialist Physiotherapist Fatih Gülegül attended the event.
The moderation of the event was carried out by Prof. Dr. Deniz Demirci, Head of Üsküdar University Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Department.
Specialist Physiotherapist Güven: “Arrangements should be made to make children feel good”
Specialist Physiotherapist Nilay Güven said, “Just like in every job you do, you need to love your profession. Loving children is important in this job because during sessions, we communicate with children who cry non-stop for even a minute, who are sick, and who have very severe illnesses. At this point, of course, patience is required. You need to love what you do and clearly define your area of interest. We gain a lot of experience during this process. Enabling children who cannot walk to walk is very valuable, and witnessing this is priceless. If I were to give myself an anecdote based on my experiences from the past, instant quick solutions should be produced at each child's perception level and duration, and arrangements should be made in pediatric sessions to make the child happy and feel good.”
Specialist Physiotherapist Akkurt: “Internship is a very important element for a physiotherapist”
Specialist Physiotherapist Ferit Akkurt, who conveyed the problems experienced by physiotherapists working as academic staff during the Covid-19 process, said: “Being a physiotherapist has an immense beauty. During the Covid-19 period, our students were deprived of this beauty. Doing an internship is a very important element for a physiotherapist. At the very least, you need to touch the patient, and feel the patient environment. When we first switched to online education due to Covid-19, we taught lessons through videos, but my students also wanted to touch patients and have face-to-face interaction. Students could not find internship opportunities. One of the most important elements when starting a job is having internship placements on the CV. Unfortunately, this area will remain empty due to the pandemic. Our interaction is very limited during this period, but we must support each other in every field, no matter what, and provide references.”
Specialist Physiotherapist Kamiloğlu: “With the transition to telerehabilitation, internet usage decreased”
Specialist Physiotherapist Dilara Kamiloğlu, who conveyed the difficulties experienced by Geriatric Physiotherapists during Covid-19, said: “With Covid-19, internet usage among our elderly, which was 5.6% in 2015, increased to 7% in 2020. We also created a new strategy. We thought about what we could do and switched to telerehabilitation. With the transition to telerehabilitation, our elderly patients' internet usage decreased somewhat. At this point, we asked for help from families. Telerehabilitation continued from March to June. After June, we started going to homes because most clinics were closed. The elderly expected correct information from us, and we tried to minimize their functional losses. The most important point I prioritized while working was to give our elderly patients the message that 'we are doing this only for you'. The most important advice I would give to my colleagues is to be informed about the psycho-social approach, how to approach the patient, and how to manage pain.”
Specialist Physiotherapist Gülegül: “We take all risks for our patient's health”
Specialist Physiotherapist Fatih Gülegül shared the experiences of physiotherapists working at home during the Covid-19 period. Gülegül said: “During the home physical therapy process, seeing the patient's living area firsthand allows us to have an idea about the treatment. We can take precautions against items in the house that pose a risk to the patient. The patient feels more comfortable at home during treatment. Especially for seriously ill patients, it is a bit more difficult to go to a clinic or hospital. Therefore, home care is much healthier. Specialists dedicate more one-on-one time to their patients, and effective treatments take place, making communication with patients much easier. The disadvantages are that treatments can be disrupted if patients relax too much. When a patient is alone at home, they can constantly feel hopeless. We refer such cases to hospitals. If we cannot get results, we deal with them personally. We take all risks for our patient's health.”
Specialist Physiotherapist Kocabey: “Our risk is very high because we work in close contact”
Specialist Physiotherapist Burcu Kocabey, speaking about her experiences during the pandemic process, said: “During this period, patients did not want to be in crowded areas such as hospitals and clinics, or to be at risk. They had reservations and applied to more individually operating physiotherapy centers and health and wellness centers. This situation was advantageous for independently working physiotherapists. Of course, we also experienced many lockdowns in the early period and could not provide services. However, as I said, we can say that it was also an advantage for physiotherapists working at home during the pandemic process. Working independently became advantageous due to unforeseen situations in hospitals. You can determine your environment and clinic, and you can set the rules. Of course, you have the advantage of choosing the patient, the equipment, and using the most suitable equipment. We work in close contact with patients, and we must know how to protect both the patient and ourselves from the epidemic during this process. Our risk is very high because we work in close contact.”