Working closely with partners during a recent visit to the Dominican Republic, World Physiotherapy identified opportunities to advance the physiotherapy profession and improve access to rehabilitation services across the country.
World Physiotherapy, with its member organisation, the Asociación Dominicana de Terapeutas Físicos (ADOFD)/Dominican Association of Physical Therapists, engaged with key stakeholders from government, healthcare, rehabilitation, and education, identifying opportunities to strengthen professional leadership, physiotherapy education, and clinical training.
Discussions explored ways to build workforce capacity and support greater integration of physiotherapy within the health system, which will be critical to developing a sustainable profession and ensuring patients and communities can access high-quality rehabilitation services.
Diosa Hernandez, President, ADOFD said, 'This has been a significant step forward for ADOFD. The visit has had a very positive impact, as it enabled us to bring several outstanding issues to the attention of the Ministry of Health. It has been a tremendous source of support for our organisation and its growth.'
During the visit, engagement across the health system brought together key perspectives from the Ministry of Public Health (MISPAS), the National Health Service (SNS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), as well as local universities, hospitals, and rehabilitation providers.
These conversations helped build a clearer picture of the opportunities and challenges across the health system, and identify where targeted collaboration could support meaningful and lasting progress.
Visits to hospitals, rehabilitation providers, and universities offered a valuable opportunity to see physiotherapy and rehabilitation in practice, hear directly from professionals about the challenges they face, and explore opportunities for future development.
Site visits took place at Hospital Pediátrico Dr. Hugo Mendoza, Hospital Pediátrico Dr. Robert Reid Cabral, CAID, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), and Universidad Católica Santo Domingo (UCSD).
Reflecting on the visit, Ann Nicholson, World Physiotherapy development programme manager said, 'This provided an invaluable opportunity for World Physiotherapy to support our member organisation, ADOFD, while fostering collaboration between international partners and the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic. The Ministry demonstrated a clear commitment to strengthening rehabilitation services and improving access to quality care, which will provide a strong foundation for our continued collaboration and development work in the Dominican Republic.'
World Physiotherapy will continue to work with ADOFD and stakeholders in the Dominican Republic, building on the opportunities identified to support the profession and improve access to rehabilitation services for patients and communities.
