Evaluation of the Challenges of Continuing Professional Development Training among Clinical Physiotherapists in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Training and development are essential for acquisition of clinical skills for better competence, relevance and efficiency. In view of this, it is important to continually appraise training and professional development in the field of physiotherapy. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the challenges of continuing professional development training among clinical physiotherapists. Methods: Three hundred and fifty one clinical physiotherapists were recruited using sample of convenience. Data were collected through the creation of a google form questionnaire which sought for relevant information on sociodemographic details, work settings, source of information on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), impacts, challenges and barriers to attending CPD training. The google link were provided to two professional bodies of physiotherapy in Nigeria. The data were collated and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi- square test of association to determine the association between CPD and and selected sociodemographic variables, alpha Level being p≤0.05. Results: The result showed the ages of the physiotherapists ranged from 20 to 59 years. Most respondents sourced for information about CPD through the social media using WhatsApp medium (84.7%) and among colleagues (76.1%). Majority (90.9% and 80.1%) of the respondents reported that CPD contributed to career advancement and the improvement of clinical skills, respectively. Furthermore, the respondents faced different challenges in engaging in CPD training which included high cost of registration (61.5%), time constraints (26.2%), non-provision of adequate support to participate (59.5%) and lack of relevant programs 13 (3.7%). Conclusion: In conclusion, the main challenges of attending CPD training are due to huge cost of participation, time constraint due to heavy workload and lack of adequate support from employers. Almost all the physiotherapists acknowledged that CPD training contributed to career advancement and the improvement of clinical skills and were receiving most information from the social media and among colleagues. Key words: Evaluation, CPD, Constraints, Clinical Physiotherapists