From problem to solution: what we achieved with Global Rehab Studio

With Global Rehab Studio we set out to bring global inequalities in health and rehabilitation closer to young healthcare professionals, and to encourage them not to stop at recognizing the problem but to start thinking about solutions that are workable in low-resource settings.

Across the sessions, students explored the concrete challenges facing patients, their families, and health workers in places where access to rehabilitation is limited. For stroke, they identified problems tied to the distance to services, transport, cost, a shortage of rehabilitation staff, health literacy, and poor continuity of care.

Together the students looked for simple, safe, practical solutions that could also be used at home. That work became the briefs for a set of practical videos. For stroke, they prepared procedures for correct positioning, rolling in bed, moving to sitting, standing up, transfers, assisting with walking, and involving the affected side in everyday activities.

An important part of the project was that none of this stayed on paper. Physiotherapists Without Borders connected the students’ work with the field, passing the finished filming briefs to physiotherapists on mission. They then demonstrated and filmed the procedures directly in the local setting in Tanzania and Ghana. The filming emphasized showing each procedure clearly, working safely, respecting privacy, and using simple instructions that make sense outside a clinical setting.

We took the same approach to burns, where students looked into first aid, the most common mistakes, and why early rehabilitation matters. The material stresses that acting correctly, moving early, positioning, and rehabilitation can make a real difference in preventing contractures and preserving function.

What came out of it?

The project produced more than student posters. It produced usable, accessible materials that outlast the project itself.

Through our website and QR codes, people can reach the finished video instructions and the other practical material.

A series of short videos about stroke. The videos live on YouTube; no video files are stored on this site.

Practical materials

Burns: first aid and an overview of the problem in low-resource settings

PDF, 2.9 MB

Stroke: barriers to treatment and rehabilitation in African countries

PDF, 2.6 MB

A documentary video is also available, connecting the students’ research with real experience from the field.

What did the project contribute?

With Global Rehab Studio we wanted to show that global learning can go further than lectures and discussion. The students first researched the problem, then looked for possible solutions, and together we carried those into concrete materials and out into the field.

Physiotherapists Without Borders brought the field perspective, and the chance for the students’ ideas to meet the real needs of local communities.

That gave us a process:

This is exactly where the work meets the purpose of Global Rehab Studio: encouraging young people not only to recognize global health inequalities, but to think about how their own knowledge can contribute to rehabilitation that is more accessible and more fair.

The project is funded by Humanitas as part of a strategic partnership in global learning, co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.