Physical rehabilitation in Iran after international sanctions: explored findings from a qualitative study

Globalization and Health

Ahmad Ahmadi Teymourlouy¹  Kamran Bagheri Lankarani²  Saeed Shahabi²  Parviz Mojgani³  Hosein Shabaninejad⁴  Mohammad Kamali⁵ 

[1] Department of Health Services Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;Iran-Helal Institute of Applied Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran;Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK;Rehabilitation Research Center, Department of Rehabilitation Management, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;

关键词: Sanctions;    Embargoes;    Physical rehabilitation;    Health policy;    Qualitative study;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12992-020-00618-8

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough the main aims of sanctions are the political and economic pressures on governments, literature has demonstrated the harsh effects of sanctions on the general public, especially on the patients, poor and disabled people. Since the international sanctions regime negatively affected almost all dimensions of Iran’s health sector, this qualitative study was conducted to investigate the situation of the physical rehabilitation sector after these sanctions.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted from January 2019 to June 2019 in Iran using Skype, telephone, and face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews. Purposive and snowball sampling approaches were used to identify the participants. Also, framework analysis approach was applied to analyze the collected data.ResultsIn total, 38 individuals including health policy-maker, faculty member, rehabilitation expert, Physiotherapist, Occupational therapist, and Orthotist/Prosthetist, were involved in the study. Based on our findings, a number of challenges facing the Iranian physical rehabilitation sector during the international sanctions period included: 1) socioeconomic challenges (inadequate funding, rising inflation rate, high unemployment rate, catastrophic expenditures, and inappropriate employment status of practitioners); 2) education challenges (decreased international collaboration and shortage of training devices and materials); 3) international challenges (rising issues in accessing services for patients from neighborhood countries); and 4) service delivery challenges (shortage of raw materials for producing the orthoses and prostheses, hardening of the importing the needed equipment, inappropriate infrastructures, and impossibility to use external assistance).ConclusionAfter international sanctions, the Iranian physical rehabilitation sector has faced considerable multifaceted challenges. Therefore, the international community must be aware of the situation and be concerned about the irreparable consequences.

【 授权许可】

CC BY