But when he came back home, another struggle began. When Sidhartha Bandha’s 63-year-old father suffered a stroke, the hospital did what it was supposed to do: it saved his life.
His father could no longer do things on his own. But the physiotherapy service available to them was far away. For a family dependent on daily earnings, travelling repeatedly for treatment meant spending money on transport, losing working days and managing the difficulty of moving a person who could barely move independently. The family eventually had to give up on regular rehabilitation. Over time, Sidhartha’s father developed contractures, a condition in which muscles and joints become stiff and shortened when a person remains immobile for a long period. Sitting, standing, changing position and doing everyday activities can become a struggle.
The doctors told the family that rehabilitation and physiotherapy were important for his recovery.
The question before the country today, however, is: how many people can physiotherapists actually reach? In India, while a lot of attention has been rightfully given to improving emergency and critical care, far less has been given to what happens to patients after they leave a hospital. Physiotherapy and rehabilitation are crucial components of recovering after a number of conditions, including damage to the nervous system, heart disease and orthopaedic injuries. The number tells only part of the story. The more important question is where these physiotherapists are and how many people each one can realistically reach. Are they available close to the homes of people living in rural areas? Can a person from a low-income family receive regular treatment that can last from days to months without spending a large part of the family’s income on travel and treatment? Physiotherapy is not limited to treating back pain or helping an injured athlete. It can make a meaningful difference to people recovering from stroke, heart disease, injury, surgery and many other conditions. It can help a person stand again, walk again, use an affected limb, improve balance, become physically active and return to everyday life. With India’s growing burden of non-communicable diseases, including heart disease and stroke, the need for physiotherapy is increasing. Someone with heart disease may need help becoming physically active safely. An older person may need help maintaining strength and balance. A person recovering from an injury or surgery may need rehabilitation to return to work. For all of them, physiotherapy can be the bridge between being medically stable and becoming an active, functioning member of the family and community. But that bridge is often missing. Technology can help too. Tele-rehabilitation cannot replace hands-on treatment when a person needs physical examination or direct treatment. But it can allow a physiotherapist to follow up, demonstrate exercises, answer questions and keep in touch with patients who find regular travel difficult.
