TELETHERAPY- AN INNOVATIVE WAY OF TREATMENT IN THE FIELD OF OCCUPAIONAL THERAPY IN PAKISTAN

Teletherapy is an emerging and enlarging tool for having treatment in occupational therapy in rehabilitation sciences among occupational therapists all over the world mainly in Pakistan, especially during the era of COVID-19. A lot of studies have been done already highlighting the paramount of teletherapy around the world but it is a new rising mode of treatment in Pakistan coming to light. Therapists and Patients throughout the country making the most of this treatment way respectively and hence this method of treatment while using of technologies is highly being appreciated. The aim of this study is to foster and encourage the use of this technology in third-world countries like Pakistan. It is the most used treatment tool during COVID-19 among occupational therapists all over the country and is highly appreciated in order to cut-down the negative circumstances of a one-to-one session in which therapist and patient is in highly close contact to each other. This course of action has advocate the on-going rehabilitation treatment and has kept away people from COVID-19 expansion to the most extent. In this study, a 5years old boy was included with an under-diagnostic process within the umbrella term of genetic disorder. Having genetic disorder, his sessions were taken in tele-clinic using video call technology during COVID-19. In this process, AOTA Occupational Therapy Tele-Health Decision Guide, AOTA Occupational Profile Template, AOTA Advisory Opinion for the Ethics Commission Teletherapy, i-PiCS-Internet-Based Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies Program, and modeling strategy were followed.

Analysis of Constraints to the Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises: A Study of Smes in Sindh and Punjab

It has been empirically evidenced and hence widely acknowledged that SMEs play a major and active role in economic growth, social development, employment generation and poverty reduction. The developing countries like Pakistan have been facing various macro problems such as low and unsustainable economic growth, unemployment, and poverty. SMEs can be used as a panacea for resolving a nation''s macroeconomic issues. SMEs have a great capacity to produce jobs which would reduce the problem of unemployment. In Pakistan, labor force has been continuously growing and it can only be tackled through the promotion of an active SME sector. SMEs have also been providing impetus to the growth of developed economies. The entrepreneurial spirit in the developed countries has been created, nourished, and sustained through the development of the SME sector. The dynamic SME sector is essential for creating employment, generating foreign exchanges, advancing the quality of labor force, upgrading business management skills, and disseminating technological know-how across Pakistan. The study also evidenced that Pakistan has plenty of unutilized domestic resources that can be productively mobilized through the involvement of the SMEs sector. This study is aimed at identifying the factors which are associated with the growth of SMEs and to measure the impact of those factors on constraining the pace of their growth. In total thirty-one (31) constraint-items were identified which were hampering the growth of SMEs in Pakistan. Through literature review and application of exploratory factor analysis these 31 constraint-items were grouped into seven categories (i.e. financial constraints with seven items, market constraints with five items, government regulation constraints with three items, infrastructure constraints with three items, mode of communication constraints with four items, technological constraints with four items and economic constraints with five items).Of the seven constraints categories, the technological constraints have been found to be the most severely influencing the growth of sampled SMEs in Pakistan. This is followed by the market and economic constraints which have also been severely impairing the growth of SMEs. The least important category with respect to its severity was found to be financial constraints. The infrastructure and mode of communication constraint categories have been moderately influencing the growth of SMEs. The study further demonstrated three interaction variables and testified their impact on each of the seven constructs. The first moderator''s (Firm''s Size) impact was found significant with three constructs (i.e.-economic, government regulations and mode of communication constraints); the second construct Firm''s Location was found statistically influencing three constructs (finance, government regulations, economic constraints); and the third construct Firm''s Age was found significant in the relationship between SME growth and two constructs (finance and government regulations constraints). It is recommended that the government of Pakistan has to launch more programs to support SMEs. SMEs, which are characterized as innovative and are technology-based, need government support in building and enhancing their capacity to adopt emerging technological advancements. Further government has to create a conducive and enabling environment in which SMEs can establish themselves and thrive competitively. The government has to intensify its efforts in reducing uncertainties and anomalies in the regulatory, tax, and macro-economic environment. The government needs to reform its policies with respect to financing, business environment, technology, and access to the market. Under the financing policy, the government has to provide traditional loans and venture capital to support the growth investments of SMEs. In the business environment, the government has to scrutinize the business laws and regulations carefully and systematically in order to ensure they should not put a disproportionate burden on SMEs in comparison to large businesses. The government also has to remove the red tape and other bureaucratic hurdles. In the sphere of technology, the government should launch initiatives to enhance the innovative capacity of SMEs. In the organizational internal capability context, the government has to enhance the quality of managerial competence of managers working in SMEs. The government also has to facilitate SMEs in human resource procurement. In access to markets, the government has to develop programs and aim at giving access to SMEs on international markets. The findings of this study will add and update the existing literature on the constraints SMEs face in Pakistan. Secondly, the specific findings of this study would further stimulate the research studies on this important area which has great socio-economic implications at local, regional, national, and international levels. Thirdly, the findings would greatly help the managers of SMEs to understand the severity of constraints which enable them to formulate practical strategies in order to mitigate those constraints. Finally, the findings would enable government policymakers such as (SMEDA) and other relevant authorities to have a comprehensive understanding of constraints SMEs face in Pakistan. Subsequently, they would be able to formulate the strategic growth policies aimed at improving the overall business environment in which SMEs can develop at a faster pace. This study identifies the category of constraints and assesses their influence on the growth of SMEs in Pakistan. The future study should include more comprehensive control variables such as profiles of SME owners and may focus exclusively on the business sector SMEs belong to, in order to gain more understanding on the impact of constraints, whether they are also owner and sectorspecific too.