THE Department of Physiotherapy at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) recently organised a Water Specific Therapy Workshop offering hands-on hydrotherapy skills for its clinical physiotherapists.
Hydrotherapy (also known as aquatic therapy) is the use of exercises in a pool as part of treatment for various diseases or medical conditions. The pool is used to rehabilitate patients in an aquatic environment, usually those who are unable to exercise on dry land for various reasons. Hydrotherapy has many advantages as it lessens the load on joints and can be used to improve joint range of movement, joint stability, and muscle strength. It can also be effective in improving general mobility, balance, and core stability.
“The objective of the week-long workshop was to upgrade skills of our physiotherapists and enhance our physiotherapy practice at HMC by incorporating aquatic therapy protocols and evidence-based therapeutic interventions,” said Dr Noora Al Mudahka, Chief of Physiotherapy at HMC.
The workshop, led by a veteran aquatic therapy expert, Johan Lambeck, was held at Qatar Rehabilitation Institute’s therapeutic pool and focused on evidence-based patient treatment through clinical reasoning, hands-on teaching, and teaching -by-reasoning -and-doing.
Lambeck explained there is a lot of research which supports use of hydrotherapy in treating problems related to gravity and pain. “With many obese and unhealthy people in most countries, there is an increased risk of developing hypertension, diabetes and heart problems which consequently lead to other degenerative diseases. Water therapy benefits such patients as it improves their cardiac function, helps them build a healthy body and maintain an ideal weight. This claim has been proven to be correct by research conducted across the world,” said Lambeck.
He also pointed out that patients at risk of falls, such as those who have suffered a stroke or have Parkinson’s disease, can develop their postural skills safely in a pool.
