Review Article
Year: 2021 | Month: January | Volume: 11 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 190-196
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Rehabilitation of Children with Chronic Diseases and Disabilities
Konstantinos Chandolias1, Thomas Besios2, George Tsigaras3, Anna Chalkia4, Eugenia Trevlaki5
1PT, PhD, NDT, Academic Fellow, Department of Physical Therapy International Hellenic University, Greece
2PT, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Thessaly, Greece
3PT, NP, MSc, Hippokratio General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece
4PT, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Physical Therapy International Hellenic University, Greece
5PT, MSc, Academic Fellow, Department of Physical Therapy International Hellenic University, Greece
Corresponding Author: Konstantinos Chandolias
ABSTRACT
Background: The impact of the pandemic on the daily lives of children with disabilities and their families has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Children face additional health risks, especially mental, behavioral, social and physical. Without regular physiotherapy, children's functional ability can deteriorate, and complications can occur.
Method: A literature review was conducted in the PubMed, PEDro, Google Scholar databases with articles during the period 2019-2020. The terms "pandemic- COVID", "disability", "chronic diseases", "physiotherapy" were searched.
Results: There are online patient support systems and digital platforms for retrieving medical data so that specialists can be informed in real time about the course of chronic diseases that children suffer from and there is an ongoing feedback base to evaluate their progress. In addition to regular clinical evaluation, children need constant access to their rehabilitation and treatment centers and the simultaneous use of telemedicine and telemedicine.
Conclusions: The challenges of online learning combined with the lack of recreational activities that can be done at home require further research and scientific analysis by experts to optimize the situation.
Key words: pandemic- COVID-19, disability, chronic diseases, physiotherapy.