Investigating Physical Therapy's Role in Improving Patient Life

This research proposal aims to identify the growing importance of physical therapy in improving the quality of life for patients. It outlines the concept and purpose of physical therapy in medical terms, determines different types of physical therapy and their impact on patients' lives, and ascertains the benefits of physical therapy. The proposal includes a literature review covering these research questions, drawing from books, journals, and other publications. The research methodology section details the use of a deductive approach, epistemology research philosophy with positivism, survey research strategy, and quantitative research choice. Both primary and secondary data collection methods are employed, with probability sampling used to select 50 patients for a survey. Data analysis will involve frequency distribution analysis and MS-Excel. Ethical considerations are addressed, and a Gantt chart is included for project scheduling. The study seeks to provide valuable information for healthcare students, medical professionals, and patients regarding the significance of physical therapy in relieving pain, improving movement, and overall well-being.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
(Impact of physical therapy
on quality of life of patients)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Physical therapy is described as an exercise treatment for people or patients who have
been impaired or immobilized in their flexibility and movement. These are the patients or people
who are rehabilitated to use their muscles to increase range of motion and flexibility as well as
problem in increasing strength of muscles and endurance (Fernández-de-Las-Peñas and
Cuadrado, 2016). Physical therapy is needed because it facilitates in relieving pain and reducing
swelling, it also involves the use of passive physical therapy like cold compresses, hot packs,
ultrasound and electrical stimulation (Pagliarulo, 2021). The present project is research proposal
that covers major part of the research project in brief way and this proposal would play as a
direction to the whole research project. The research would select primary and secondary sources
to collect information so that defined research questions could be addressed and answered in a
systematic manner.
Research aim:
“To identify the growing importance of physical therapy in improving quality of life of
patients.”
Research Objectives
 To understand the concept and purpose of physical therapy in medical term
 To determine the different types of physical therapy in improving quality of life of
patients
 To ascertain the benefits of physical therapy for patients
Research questions
 What is the concept and purpose of physical therapy in medical term?
 What are the different types of physical therapy in improving quality of life of patients?
 What are the benefits of physical therapy for patients?
Research Rationale
The main purpose to conduct investigation is to determine the growing importance of
physical therapy in improving quality of life of patients. In this modern time people are really
dealing with the issues of swelling and pain in different joints and parts of the body (Chan, Pua
and How, 2017). It is constantly growing because people are really giving importance to physical

therapy so that they could be relieved from their pain in muscles or any other kind of pain. With
this research, the whole concept of physical therapy would be carried and the different kinds of
physical therapy is also involved so that reader could have great understanding about physical
therapy.
Significance of the Research
The present research will be very significant because it would provide information to
healthcare students, medical professionals and patients (Smith and Crocker, 2017). This would
give clear data about the different types of physical therapy and its importance in the lives of an
individual because they help in relieving person from muscle and other pains.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review is the chapter that considers defined questions of the investigation in
systematic and proper manner. It considers books, journals, newspapers, articles, websites,
publications etc.
What is the concept and purpose of physical therapy in medical term?
According to Armijo-Olivo (2018), physical therapy refers to the non-invasive discipline
that assists individual maintain, develop and restore maximum physical function and body
movement. Physical therapy could assist patients recover from injuries, relieving pain,
preventing future injury or dealing with a chronic situation or condition. It is the therapy that is
applied at any stage or age of life. The main objective of physical therapy is to improve and
increase health and quality of life. Physical therapists are the responsible people who constantly
work as part of an individual's treatment. They start with the treatment of patient by conducting
physical examination and medical history.
The therapist makes the whole structure about the treatment plan of patient and it also
includes monitoring progress and providing manual support in which exercises are included. In
the treatment of physical therapy, the patient undergoes physical evaluation and examination
which also include testing procedures that include flexibility and movement, posture evaluation,
joint and muscle motion. The major purposes of physical therapy in medical term is relieving
patients from pain, improving ability or movement, recovering or preventing from a sports
injury, preventing surgery or disability, rehabilitation after surgery, injury, accident and stroke,

working on balancing to prevent a fall or slip, managing chronic diseases like heart disease,
arthritis and diabetes. Therefore, physical therapy is very significant in the lives of individual
because it helps in improving quality of life in terms of medical.
What are the different types of physical therapy in improving quality of life of patients?
According to Lee, Davenport and Randall (2018), physical therapy is generally divided
into different types that focus on physical well-being of patient. People involve in physical
therapy to recover from accidents or injuries. The different kinds of physical therapy help in
regaining normal body movements by injured patients. The different kinds of physical therapy in
improving quality of life of patients are: neurological physical therapy, occupational physical
therapy, geriatric physical therapy, pediatric, rehabilitative and hand physical therapy. These
therapies play wonder in the lives of patients because it assists in regaining physical movement
after any injury or accidents. The neurological therapy works on helping patients that are
suffering from neurological conditions like strokes and Alzheimer' disease. Another is
occupational therapy in which physical activities are done and this is generally received by
patients who suffer from injuries occurred due to accidents. Pediatric therapy focuses on
providing therapy to infants who lack in normal mobility and growth requirements. It also
includes babies, kids as well as adolescents who have problems related with body movements
that create barrier in their playing and learning. Therefore, different kinds of physical therapy are
very effective and efficient for people who suffer from any injury, stroke or accidents.
What are the benefits of physical therapy for patients?
According to Piano and et. al., (2017), physical therapy assists individuals of all ages who
are suffering from illness, injuries or medical conditions that limit their normal ability to move
and function. From the collected information it is interpreted that physical therapy is significant
because it assists an individual to recover from injuries and relive from pain. So, physical
therapy is great for patients who want to get back their usual life without any difficulty in their
movement. There are many benefits of physical therapy for patients, some of them include:
Reducing or eliminating pain: The techniques of physical therapy and therapeutic
exercises for instance joint mobilisation and soft tissue such as electrical stimulation, ultrasound

etc. may assist relieve pain and restore joint and muscle function. These therapies help in
stopping pain to recur.
Avoiding surgery: Physical therapy assists in eliminating pain and healing from injury,
surgery is not necessary. There are also some other pre-surgery physical therapy if surgery is
needed by patients.
Improving balance and preventing falls: Physical therapy assists in monitoring for fall
risk. If patient is at the stage of high risk zones then the exercises are provided by therapists so
that patient could balance in their real life situations.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is described as the procedure that facilitates in accumulating
information and analysing accumulated data in systematic and effective manner. The main
motive of using different kinds of methodology is to gather reliable and valid data so that defined
objectives could be easily attained in shorter time duration. The different kinds of methodologies
would be used in the research are:
Research Approach: Research approach refers to the procedure for measuring,
evaluating and analysing gathered information in efficient and effective way. It is defined as
approach that classifies into two major parts that are: inductive and deductive approach.
Approaches are necessary for measuring information in systematic way (Nayak and Singh,
2021). For attaining objectives of the investigation, investigator will take deductive approach
because it considers quantitative information. It helps in evaluating quantitative information in
systematic in shorter time period so that objectives could be easily achieved. On the other hand
researcher will not choose inductive approach it considers information that is not present in
statistical format.
Research Philosophy: Research philosophy is defined as belief in relation to the ways in
which information is accumulated, used and evaluated according to the topic. Research
philosophy is majorly classified into kinds that are: ontology, epistemology and ontology (Babii,
2020). For attaining objectives of the present investigation, investigator will use epistemology
because it provides choice among realism, positivism and interpretivism. Researcher would take
help from positivism philosophy because it would help in taking out and analysing information

that is present in numeric format. On the other hand, interpretivism and realism would not be
chosen because they both are involved in analysing qualitative information.
Research Strategy: Research strategy refers to the strategy that facilitates in collecting
information in appropriate way. There are many types of research strategies that are available to
gather appropriate information. It includes grounded theory, experimental research, case study,
survey, action research, systematic literature review etc. For attaining objective current research
and as the research is based upon primary researcher, investigator would select survey. Survey is
great method for collecting primary data and it is also chosen because it assists in gathering large
piece of information without taking longer time duration (Bairagi and Munot, 2019). It is the
great strategy to gather numeric information for attaining objectives in systematic and proper
way.
Research Choice: Research choice refers to the introduction about the procedure of
gathering information as pet the topic of investigation. The selection of choice will researcher in
collecting relevant and reliable data. Research choice has divided its types in two significant
parts that are qualitative and quantitative research choice. Investigator will select quantitative
research choice so that statistical and numeric information could be taken out (Ragab and Arisha,
2018). The main reason of choosing quantitative research choice so that objectives could be
achieved through usage of graphs and tables. On the other hand, qualitative research will not be
chosen because it is concerned about information that is available in theory format.
Data Collection: Data collection is defined as strategy for carrying out appropriate
information as per the need of investigation. It is significant for researcher to gather relevant,
accurate and reliable data so that defined results could be taken out. It is divided into three
significant kinds that are: primary and secondary data collection. As per the need of
investigation, researcher will use primary and secondary data collection because they both are
significant in gathering information for meeting aim and objectives. Investigator would use
primary so that raw data related to the topic could be taken out and for this survey would be
conducted in systematic way (Cuervo‐Cazurra and et. al., 2017). Investigator will also use
secondary so that they could fully use published data in relation to the topic. For the collection of
secondary information, investigator would use books, journals, articles, websites, publication,
newspapers, magazines etc.

Sampling: Sampling is referred as process that is concerned about selecting particular
number of participants from the given larger number of population. It is classified in two kinds
that are probability and non-probability sampling (Papachristos, 2018). With the purpose of
attaining pre-defined objectives and questions of research, investigator would be selecting
probability sampling will be chosen by investigator because it assists in choosing more number
of respondents. 50 patients would be selected randomly so that information regarding their
experience could be taken out related to physical therapy. So in questionnaire, these chosen
respondents would answer.
Data Analysis: The current research is based upon primary and quantitative data,
investigator would select frequency distribution analysis and MS-Excel because they are
effective and efficient in evaluating and analysing numeric information.
Ethical Considerations: While conducting investigation, ethics are significant because
they facilitate in completing work in ethical manner. The researcher would aim at not harming
chosen respondents physically as well as mentally. They would also provide with option
withdrawal their consent from answering questions of the questionnaire.
Gantt chart: Gantt chart is described as the project scheduling way so that activities and
tasks could be scheduled in such a way so that objectives and goals of research could be attained.
Gantt chart is a kind of bar chart that systematically illustrates activities and tasks so that
objectives could be attained in a defined time duration (Brčić and Mlinarić, 2018). Gantt chart is
generally used in organising and managing schedule of the project in such a manner so that
investigator could easily track on activities and tasks. This also assists in monitoring whether the
project is conducting according to the defined time or not.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Armijo-Olivo, S., 2018. The importance of determining the clinical significance of research
results in physical therapy clinical research. Brazilian journal of physical
therapy. 22(3). p.175.
Babii, A., 2020. Important aspects of the experimental research methodology. Вісник
Тернопільського національного технічного університету. 97(1). pp.77-87.
Bairagi, V. and Munot, M.V. eds., 2019. Research methodology: A practical and scientific
approach. CRC Press.
Brčić, M. and Mlinarić, D., 2018. Tracking predictive gantt chart for proactive rescheduling in
stochastic resource constrained project scheduling. Journal of Information and
Organizational Sciences. 42(2). pp.179-192.
Chan, H.B.Y., Pua, P.Y. and How, C.H., 2017. Physical therapy in the management of frozen
shoulder. Singapore medical journal. 58(12). p.685.
Cuervo‐Cazurra and et. al., 2017. Research methodology in global strategy research. Global
Strategy Journal. 7(3). pp.233-240.
Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, C. and Cuadrado, M.L., 2016. Physical therapy for
headaches. Cephalalgia. 36(12). pp.1134-1142.
Huhn and et. al., 2019. Clinical reasoning in physical therapy: a concept analysis. Physical
therapy. 99(4). pp.440-456.
Lee, A.C., Davenport, T.E. and Randall, K., 2018. Telehealth physical therapy in
musculoskeletal practice. journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy. 48(10).
pp.736-739.
Nayak, J.K. and Singh, P., 2021. Fundamentals of Research Methodology Problems and
Prospects. SSDN Publishers & Distributors.
Pagliarulo, M.A., 2021. Introduction to Physical Therapy-E-BOOK. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Papachristos, G., 2018. A mechanism based transition research methodology: Bridging
analytical approaches. Futures. 98. pp.57-71.
Piano and et. al., 2017. Direct access to physical therapy for the patient with musculoskeletal
disorders, a literature review. Journal of physical therapy science. 29(8). pp.1463-1471.
Ragab, M.A. and Arisha, A., 2018. Research methodology in business: A starter’s
guide. Management and Organizational Studies. 5(1). pp.1-14.
Smith, S.N. and Crocker, A.F., 2017. Experiential learning in physical therapy
education. Advances in medical education and practice. 8. p.427.