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Purpose: While ageing is an inevitable phenomenon of life, physical activity is important for healthy ageing. Compared to the other age groups, older adults throughout the world have the lowest rate of participation in recommended levels of physical activity. This study aimed to investigate the physical activity status of the community-dwelling elderly population in Gujarat, India.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study. A door-to-door survey was conducted among selected communities near Vadodara in Gujarat. Based on the inclusion criteria (age≥60years, MMSE-≥24), 347 elderly persons were included in the study. Data was collected using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ), and analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Among the 347 older adults (mean age 67.43±7.46 years) who participated in the study, 159 were male and 188 were female. While 125 participants (36%) were physically active at levels recommended by the World Health Organisation, 222(64%) were physically inactive.

Conclusion: Only 36% of the participants were physically active as per WHO recommendations. The men were more physically active than the women in the study sample. This study implies that there is a need to create an awareness regarding the importance of physical activity for healthy aging.

Purpose: The survey aimed to identify common strengths and weaknesses regarding the characteristics, management and implementation of Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) training in the undergraduate curriculum of Schools of Physical Therapy in the Philippines, and make recommendations for improvement.

Method: A survey was conducted with the academic heads of CBR departments in 10 Physical Therapy schools. The institutions were selected through cluster sampling according to regional location. Nine of these were private institutions. Data was collected through a 24-item self-assessment survey distributed to the heads of the participating colleges /departments.

Results: A number of strengths and weaknesses were identified. The strengths were:  all schools had a 1 to 2-month clinical CBR course integrated into their undergraduate curriculum; CBR courses were supported by a course syllabus, learning outcomes, student assessment and clinical training manual; 80% of institutions had implementing policies and guidelines governing management of the CBR programme(s); at least one physiotherapist was involved in the management of the CBR programme(s); and, CBR activities were delivered in coordination with key stakeholders management, with emphasis on delivery of physical therapy services, disability prevention, health education, participation of persons with disabilities and community awareness. The weaknesses were: no head/programme coordinator for 30% of CBR programmes; 40% did not have clinical coordinators as designated management positions in the CBR programme; only 50% of academic staff received formal CBR training, of which 80% was provided through CBR summits and professional interaction with other physical therapists; and, only 50% of schools adopted a multidisciplinary approach to service delivery which was focused on the Health domain of the CBR Matrix.

Conclusion:  The CBR component of the undergraduate physical therapy curriculum in the Philippines can be improved. A shift in the teaching to transdisciplinary care and inter-professional learning is recommended. Regular review of the CBR indicators should be done by the schools, including the key stakeholders.  Challenges for CBR implementation were recruitment of community volunteers as CBR workers, availability of indigenous resources and finances to support CBR activities, and family participation in the rehabilitation of a relative with a disability. Each school should determine whether current human resources and training are adequate. Schools must be encouraged to jointly identify common problems in CBR education and share solutions. 

Purpose: The study aimed to understand the issues and challenges encountered by various stakeholders (teachers, parents and counsellors) working with children with dyslexia in the inclusive school context.

Method: Using purposive and snowball sampling, 20 teachers, 20 counsellors and 20 parents (mothers) of children with specific learning disability (dyslexia) were selected from 8 inclusive schools in Delhi. A qualitative approach was adopted, with a semi-structured interview schedule to elicit responses. Qualitative thematic analysis was used as a framework for data analysis.

Results: Parents experienced negative feelings due to lack of awareness and acceptance of dyslexia. Counsellers felt parental ignorance led to delay in assessment and remediation. Parents and counsellors perceived lack of support from schools and lack of empathy among teachers. Teachers confessed they lacked training to deal with dyslexic learners, were unaware of policies and concessions for them, and were currently overburdened with their workload.

Conclusion: There is a need to hold psycho-educational workshops for parents in order to increase their awareness, and conduct training workshops (pre-service and in-service) for teachers to increase awareness and build empathy. Schools should provide in-house assistive services such as assessment and remediation, and redefine the goals of education to focus on the holistic skills of children.

Purpose: People with albinism in Tanzania are severely stigmatised. A measurement tool to assess this stigmatisation among adults is lacking. This research aimed at the cultural validation of two Scales to measure stigma related to albinism: The Albinism Social Distance Scale (A-SDS) and the Albinism Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue Community Stigma Scale (A-EMIC-CSS).

Method: Conceptual, item, semantic and operational equivalences were evaluated through focus groups and interviews. A pilot study among adults attending religious institutes, as a representation of Tanzanian society, was conducted to assess the measurement equivalence. There were 101 respondents for the test and 79 respondents for the re-test.

Results: Conceptual, item, semantic and operational equivalences of the Scales are sufficient. In terms of measurement equivalence, the internal consistency of the A-SDS and A-EMIC-CSS are adequate. However, social desirability should be taken into account when interpreting the findings.

Conclusion and Implications: The insights provided by this article can aid in the development of tools to measure stigma cross-culturally and across stigmatising conditions. The combination of the two Scales for short and long-term effect measurement is recommended.

Purpose: The prevalence of clinically relevant depressive symptoms among clients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus is in the range of 30%. Since these conditions are often under-diagnosed and under-treated in clinical practice, they negatively affect functional recovery, adherence to treatment, and the quality of life. Despite the large body of evidence regarding the effects of exercise training on different aspects of diabetes, no updated conclusive article that reviews depression is available. This article aims to review the current literature on exercise training and its effect on depression in people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Method: An electronic search of literature from 2010, highlighting the effects of exercise on depression among Type 2 diabetes mellitus clients, was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed.  Relevant articles were utilised for this review.  The selected studies are based on relational and rehabilitative exercise training approaches.

Results: While most of the studies support the efficacy of exercise training, study settings and described models are not conclusive.  No single clearly defined model exists for exercise training for depression among people with diabetes. There is evidence for the efficacy of supervised aerobic exercise in the treatment of depression, when undertaken three times weekly at moderate intensity, for a minimum of eight weeks. Further research is required to develop specific exercise training models that can be tested in experimental studies for this client group.

Conclusion: The current review showed that exercise training can be used to alleviate depression among people with diabetes. Future studies should adopt rigorous methodological criteria to back up the present findings.

Purpose: While occupational stress may negatively affect physiotherapists’ work attitudes and behaviour, emotional intelligence has been suggested as a factor that leads to successful performance and provision of quality service in the healthcare profession. This study was designed to investigate the association of occupational stress and emotional intelligence among physiotherapists in Malaysia.

Method: The study employed a cross‐sectional self‐report design. Convenience sampling method was used to recruit 171 participants. The sample comprised physiotherapists who work in government and private settings in Malaysia. Questionnaires consisting of socio-demographic data, Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory and Occupational Stress Index were distributed to the participants. The data was analysed using Pearson Correlation, Independent samples t-test and One-way ANOVA.

Results: It was found that 130 physiotherapists (76%) suffered from moderate stress, 21.1% experienced low stress and 2.9% reported high stress. Overall, moderate emotional intelligence level was reported by the participants with mean of 129.36±18.314. A negative correlation was found between occupational stress and emotional intelligence. Males exhibited higher level of occupational stress than female physiotherapists. Demographic variables such as years of clinical experience and monthly salary were statistically significant with emotional intelligence.

Conclusion: Emotional self-management and understanding others' emotions appear to play an important role in managing occupational stress.

Purpose: The study aimed to understand the self-perceived environmental barriers/ facilitators to community ambulation among stroke survivors in Maharashtra State, India.

Method: The Facilitators and Barriers Survey /Mobility Questionnaire (FABS/M) was used to collect information from a convenience sample of 50 individuals with stroke. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 22.00.

Results: Curbs, gravel surfaces, rain, noise, and crowd were marked as barriers by 56%, 58%, 52%, 36% and 50% of the participants, respectively. Ramps, elevators, and flat surfaces were reported as facilitators by 42%, 70% and 82% of the participants, respectively. Participants also mentioned the absence of automatic doors and escalators in community areas (92% and 88%), specialised exercise equipment, handrails and specialised bathroom equipment at home (92%, 50% and 52%), and inaccessibility to public places (50%), as barriers to easy mobility. 

Conclusions: To enhance community mobility of individuals with stroke, environmental barriers should be reduced and facilitators should be enhanced. The marked absence of facilitators in the environment should be rectified and appropriate steps should be taken to enhance ambulation. 

Limitations of the study are the small sample size. Factors like balance, economic status, physical activity of the stroke individuals and severity of stroke were also not considered.

Purpose: It is well established that physical exercise, in general, decreases anxiety and depression. Para sport or sport for people with disabilities is used as a rehabilitation strategy to improve their quality of life. This study aimed to investigate people with disabilities who practise wheelchair fencing, sedentary people with physical disability and conventional fencers, assessed by Short Form 36 (SF-36), by comparing the groups.

Method: Forty-two people from Physical Disability Association of Parana (ADFP) answered SF-36 and were divided into three groups: Conventional Fencers (CF), Wheelchair Fencers (WF), and Sedentary People with Physical Disability (SD).

Results: This study was the first to report the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) of conventional fencers, wheelchair fencers, and sedentary people with physical disability, using SF-36. The data demonstrated high scores in CF and WF, on seven SF-36 scales of the eight-scale profile, including functional and mental health, role physical, bodily pain, general health perception, vitality, social functioning, mental health. Moreover, the sedentary group had lower scores in most of the domains when they were compared to CF.

Conclusion: The results might provide supportive evidence that HRQOL of WF has demonstrated a positive effect on people with disability since para sport has been used as a rehabilitation programme.

Implication: The implementation of a public campaign is recommended, about sport as a health promoter for disability and rehabilitation. By involving healthcare providers from the area, people with disabilities can be encouraged to participate in para sport.

Purpose: This qualitative study aimed to compare the experiences of two groups of female athletes - those with and without visual disability- who participate in sports.

Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 athletes and thematic analysis of the data was done.

Results: Both groups identified various benefits of engaging in sports, including increased fitness and higher self-esteem. Para-athletes felt that sports provided them with opportunities to break stereotypes associated with disability. Both groups also identified certain barriers impeding sports participation, the most pervasive of these being poor infrastructure.  In terms of differences, athletes without disability were initiated into sports at a much earlier age, had enjoyed more freedom in choosing their sport, and were given more family support than the para-athletes.

Conclusion: An analysis of the findings in terms of the Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002) indicated that needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness were being more wholly met through sports-related experiences for athletes without disability than for the para-athletes.

Implications: Current conditions within para-sport need to be improved by providing more sporting choices to athletes with disability, easier access to sports opportunities at an earlier age, development of self-efficacy with regard to sports, challenging of stereotypes, and generating awareness among parents that sports can be a viable and safe option for their daughters.