Assessment of health promotion content in undergraduate physiotherapy curricula

BACKGROUND: The integration of health promotion in the treatment of patients should be included in all academic curricula in primary training of health professionals. However, the extent to which health promotion is included in the various curricula at undergraduate level is not known. OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent to which health promotion content is integrated in undergraduate physiotherapy training programmes in South Africa. METHOD: This was a qualitative and descriptive study, using in-depth interviews with representatives of physiotherapy academic departments. RESULTS: All universities have some content of health promotion, with the weighting varying between 12% and 40%. Health promotion is taught at various levels of study, and health promotion training blocks are in both urban and rural settings and include communities, schools and old-age homes. The theories of advocacy, enabling and mediation are covered, but there is limited practical training on these elements. There are limited human resources trained in health promotion, as well as a lack of clear processes of developing and reviewing teaching and training materials. CONCLUSION: There is lack of consensus on the weighting of health promotion, the level at which it is taught and how it is evaluated across universities. Challenges to integrate health promotion in physiotherapy curricula include lack of frequent curricula reviews, inadequate training of lecturers and lack of conducive practical sites. The physiotherapy profession needs to reach a consensus on minimum standards for integration of health promotion in undergraduate training, and the physiotherapy professional board has the potential to provide the required leadership.