Modern day advancements in rehabilitation sciences can play a vital role in stabilizing the lives of disabled people, stated by Chairman Higher Education Commission Dr. Mukhtatr Ahmed while addressing the closing ceremony of International Conference on Rehabilitation Sciences (ICRS) here at local hotel on Sunday.
Pakistan’s first two-day international conference on Rehabilitation Sciences (RS) was arranged by Isra Institute of Rehabilitation Sciences (IIRS), Isra University (IU)here in which world’s leading scientists and rehabilitation experts discussed multiple issues related to future of RS in Pakistan.
Chairman HEC said that this is a unique event providing a common ground for the formal as well as informal exchange & flow of knowledge & pioneering events which open up more vistas and enrichment of knowledge for mutual benefits of professionals and practitioners in the field of rehabilitation education and research. The crucial contribution of rehabilitation practitioners in the advancement of healthcare should properly be acknowledged, he added.
While addressing on this occasion, International Conference Chairman and Principal IIRS Dr. Naveed Babur said that Pakistan is severely lacking research work in the field of RS and the govt need to take measures in this regard so that quality rehabilitation practitioners can be made. He said that currently almost 3500 Physiotherapists are working in Pakistan, but there is no specific accrediting body to regularize their services. He demanded the authorities to play their role in this regard.
Earlier, the participants of the conference attended many plenary sessions, poster and verbal presentations managed by leading therapists and experts. Internationally known rehabilitation expert Andy Charley discussed the role of family medicine in rehabilitation in UK. In one of the Plenary Sessions held in the morning, Ayeza Yazdani Abid discussed the development of an individualized educational plan (IEP) and the role of the multidisciplinary team. To create awareness amongst health professionals regarding disabilities, Dr. Irfan Ahmed addressed a plenary session. Nazia Mumtaz, a PHD scholar discussed the basics and beyond of Speech Language pathology, while an insight to SWOT analysis of physiotherapy profession was presented by Rashid Hafeez Nasir. The comprehensive rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries in Pakistan was discussed by Ilyas Syed.
On this occasion, experts and presented many poster presentations in which different issues were highlighted. A poster presentation on “Depression, Anxiety and Psychological Adjustment among Amputees were presented by Saima Waqar, Rehana Noor and Manan Haider. Madiha Shah and Furqan Ahmed Siddiqui narrated a presentation on “Regular Exercises are Effective to Reduce Insulin Intake In Diabetes Mellitus Type 1: A Cross Sectional Survey. The Impact of Gender on Emotional Intelligence was presented by Rehana Noor, Tanzeela Nabeel and Naved Shahzad.