Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW) get Free Osteopathic Treatment at OPRC

by Osteopathic Pain Relief Centre | Sep 10, 2015

A fund has been secured allowing OPRC to offer osteopathic consultations and treatments to FDW free of charge.  This service started  July 2015 and so far has been well received. There is currently no end date for this service.

Source of Referral

For the month of July and Aug 2015 most FDW were referred by word of mouth, FDW  encouraged their friends to come to OPRC for treatment. We also had referrals from  Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME). OPRC will continue its efforts to inform all FDW of this service via Embassies, social media and other organizations.

Nationality of FDW

The chart below shows the majority of FDW seen in July 2015 were Filipinos.

Percentage Breakdown of FDW Nationality July 2015

Common Complaints

The chart below shows the most common problems for FDW, some have had these problems for 5- 10 years.  The upper body neck and shoulder are the common areas of complaint and discomfort.

Number of complaints per FDW

The chart below indicates that about 42% of FDW came in with at least 2 problems.

When is the service for FDW available?

• All treatments are by appointment only
• Two Sundays per month from 10am -1pm are available (dates will vary)
• Mon-Fri 9am – 6pm
• We currently have a waiting list for FDW, once a slot becomes available we will call those on the list.

Are there conditions to this service?

There are only two conditions for this service:

1.  FDW should call us 24 hours before their appointment if they are not able to make it so that we can call other people as replacement.
2. FDW should come early for their appointment to maximize the time allocated for their treatment.

FDW are advised to inform their employers that they will coming for therapy especially if its during the weekday.

What should a FDW do to receive free osteopathic treatment?

• Call 63278545 and be placed in our waiting list, as soon as a slot becomes available we will call them.
• Appointments cannot be made by other people except by an employer.
• Sunday entry into the office lift are via the back end of 7eleven, check our map for details – click here for map

What type of problems can be treated?

Osteopathy can help with problems related to your muscles, joints, ligaments etc. Most injuries sustained by FDW are work related or minor injuries that have built up over time. Although it is difficult to reduce the work load of a FDW there are certain precautions that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of injuries.

Osteopathy offer manual release for tight muscles, tender ligaments, stiff joints. Stretching and exercises may be given when necessary. Medications are not prescribed.

The first aim of an osteopathic treatment is to reduce the pain, then find out what caused the problem, give advice to help recovery and advice to prevent the problem from returning.

Ultimately- the aim is help your body heal itself, the assumption is that the body has the ability to self correct.

Advice to FDW

“Osteopathy can help with your problems but you will need to take care of yourself to prevent injuries” this is a common advice to FDW.

Other advises are:

• If your employer returns with a luggage that is too heavy, let your employer know that you will open the case and take two trips to bring the luggage in.
• Break up the hours when ironing, trying to iron everything at once will eventually cause damage to yourself.
• Make sure the ironing board is your waist high, most FDW with shoulder pain have this problem.
• Walking outside is only exercising your heart and lungs but not your spine. click here for spinal exercises.
• If you think doing something will hurt you, inform your employer and make a suggestion to do in a different way.