The nationwide lockdown ended in May. PILOT PROGRAMME FOR FOOT EXAMINATION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS, the aim of which was to detect posture defects early. As part of the programme, the NZOZ Your Doctor Rehabilitation Workshop conducted over 3,300 consultations, providing care to almost 2,500 young patients. This is one of the highest results among all 16 centres in Poland that participated in the project.

NZOZ Twój Lekarz turned out to be one of the most active participants in the program, thus confirming its commitment to preventive health care for children and young people. Thanks to efficient organization and the involvement of the team of rehabilitators, it was possible to examine a large group of students, detecting many postural irregularities at a very early stage.

EARLY DETECTION MEANS MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT

The pilot program initiated by the Ministry of Health and the National Health Fund was of a preventive and diagnostic nature. It was aimed at children and adolescents, and its aim was to detect abnormalities in the lower limbs and feet before permanent changes in the musculoskeletal system occurred. The tests were free of charge and did not require a referral – all that was needed was to register the child with one of the facilities participating in the project.

During the examination, manual foot assessment, podoscopic examination and analysis of load distribution on a diagnostic platform were performed. Thanks to this, it was possible to precisely identify, among others, flat feet, valgus knees, asymmetry or gait disorders - problems that in the future could lead to spine or hip pain or even limitation of the child's mobility.

As physiotherapists emphasize, the earlier a postural defect is detected, the greater the chance of correcting it. The program has allowed for the care of children who have not had any contact with rehabilitation so far or who reported only when the problems were already visible to the naked eye.

"GO STRAIGHT TO SCHOOL" PODCASTS

One of the important effects of the programme implementation at NZOZ Twój Lekarz was also the cooperation with the Health Promotion Foundation, which resulted in a series of podcasts GO STRAIGHT TO SCHOOL as part of the medical cycle WHAT DOES YOUR DOCTOR SAY?. This is a valuable source of knowledge for parents who want to understand the most common posture defects in children, how to recognize them and effectively counteract them. In the next installments of the series, a physiotherapy specialist, Jarosław Baginski, M.A. explains in an accessible way what to pay attention to in the daily functioning of the child, what exercises are worth implementing and when to seek help from a physiotherapist. All episodes are available for free, among others, on the website www.twojlekarz.net and on the channel WHAT DOES YOUR DOCTOR SAY? on popular podcast services.