Bridging Therapy

In traveling to rural communities in Mali, major disparities in health care were observed. For almost all locals, health care accessibility was limited, and especially for disabled individuals, health care was either unavailable, insufficient or unable to be obtained. Furthermore, the emphasis on physical capabilities being the measurement of the worth of a person and how that effected the lives of disabled persons was observed to be a large problem. People with disabilities in sub-Saharan West African communities are often neglected, abused, and left to fend for themselves since physical therapy and other common treatments are neither available to them, nor known about by friends and relatives. Since functionality of the body is necessary for survival and value to community members, the community sees no benefits to investing in the social, emotional or mental capabilities of these individuals. With the loss of both the functionality of their bodies and the support of their friends and families, disabled persons often have no way of leaving the physical confines of their house or seeking treatment. Consequently, their conditions tend to worsen; these individuals often develop low senses of self-worth and other complications that could be avoided, lessened, or even alleviated by physical therapy and self-care education. There are many barriers to getting physical therapy for disabled persons in sub-Saharan West Africa. One of these barriers is the simple lack of accessibility to programs and physical therapists – clinics are often only available in capital cities, their numbers are few, and they requires financial resources to utilize them. More programs are difficult to create because of the lack of trained physical therapists, the insufficient amount of financial resources and the shortage of time being dedicated to efforts with less immediate results. Another barrier is the lack of knowledge that physical therapy is an effective and viable method of improving the physical abilities of disabled peoples. In a culture where the idea of exercise is not the norm, the concept that doing repetitive motions will better an individuals’ wellbeing is not understood and rehabilitation clinics efforts are often not fully supported. Therefore, there is a rising need for accessibility to physical therapy, and education about the benefits and effectiveness of such a program, to lead to the empowerment and physical improvement of disabled individuals.