INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE WORK OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Fizioterapija jedna je od odrednica zdravstvene skrbi neovisno o kojem stanju pacijenta se radi. Njezina učinkovitost i važnost dovela je do činjenice da se smatra neophodnom i uključenom u gotovo svaki proces zdravstvene skrbi o pacijentu. Upravo iz tog razloga, kako je pandemija COVID-19 virusa pogodila cijeli svijet, posebice medicinsku struku odnosno zdravlje ljudi, na isti način djelovala je i na fizioterapiju – destruktivno. Upravo iz toga razloga fizioterapeuti trpe značajnu količinu negativnih posljedica trenutnog stanja te češće psihički obolijevaju od stresa koji uvelike diktira njihov posao. Teorijski dio rada prikazuje osnovne pojmove koji se vežu uz fizioterapiju i rad fizioterapeuta ali i stres kojem su izloženi i poremećaje do kojih isti može dovesti. Empirijski dio rada prikazuje utjecaj pandemije COVID-19 virusa na rad i stavove fizioterapeuta u Republici Hrvatskoj.Physiotherapy is one of the determinants of health care regardless of the patient's condition. Its effectiveness and importance has led to the fact that it is considered necessary and involved in almost every patient health care process. Precisely for this reason, as the pandemic of the COVID-19 virus affected the whole world, especially the medical profession and human health, it had the same effect on physiotherapy - destructive. It is for this reason that physiotherapists suffer a significant amount of the negative consequences of their current condition and more often suffer mentally from stress, which is largely dictated by their work. The theoretical part of the paper presents the basic concepts related to physiotherapy and the work of physiotherapists, but also the stress to which they are exposed and the disorders it can lead to. The empirical part of the paper shows the impact of the COVID-19 virus pandemic on the work and attitudes of physiotherapists in the Republic of Croatia