Equity in physiotherapy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Enhancing Equity: Development of a Co-designed Culturally Tailored Physiotherapy Intervention
IRAS ID
358156
Contact name
Jessica Pawson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London, Joint Research Management Office
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 2 days
Research summary
Musculoskeletal conditions are problems affecting muscles, bone and joints, e.g. back pain, arthritis. They cause pain and problems with day-to-day activities. This is a problem for one third of people living in the United Kingdom (UK). People living in poor neighbourhoods and Asian and Black ethnic groups have more pain and disability (1,2). This study focuses on individuals with limited English proficiency and living in poorer neighbourhoods to capture some of this group with higher pain and disability. Due to resources, this study will not be able to be inclusive of all patients from these underserved groups and therefore may exclude some individuals with higher Musculoskeletal burden.
Physiotherapy is a type of healthcare that helps people with pain. Physiotherapy is more difficult for people who don't speak English as a first language (3,4).
This project has four steps that will help to improve physiotherapy care for ethnic minority groups.
First, we will look at what research has been done in other health services in the UK. Second, we will see what projects other physiotherapy teams have done to help ethnic minorities. Next, we will talk to physiotherapists and patients in East London. We want to know what problems they have and what matters to them. Lastly, we will bring all this together using co-design. This is where patients, physiotherapists and researchers all work together. We will use the information from parts 1, 2 and 3 to think about what things can make physiotherapy better for all.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/WM/0177
Date of REC Opinion
24 Sep 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion