play activities frequently occur in child care. When using play in child care during physiotherapy intern training, it is important to assure the therapeutic purpose of such activities, since this experience will influence the physiotherapist's professional development. The aim of this study is, therefore, to describe the use of play activities in child physiotherapy sessions carried out by trainees during their academic internship. In view of the established aim, a descriptive study (case study) was carried out. Six senior year students in the fourth year of the physiotherapy university undergraduate course took part in this study. Information was collected through systematic observation recorded on camcorder. Data was analyzed according to three categories: the emergence of play activities in physiotherapy sessions; actual playing in physiotherapy; and the intern's behavior during play. In the first and next to last week of sessions, 187 and 158 play activities were observed respectively, often appropriate to the level of the child being treated. Several kinds of games and play activities were observed during the sessions, resulting in specific behaviors from the child: gaining the desired response; gaining partially desired response; lack of desired response and; inability to evaluate if the response obtained was desirable or not. The participants' behavior showed preparation, orientation, incentive, supervision, facilitation and demonstration of the play activity. The study showed that the participants did use play as a therapeutic resource. It is clear, however, that including the theme of games and playing in the theoretical academic disciplines as well as discussion and systematic orientation on play during supervised training will help enhance trainee repertoire.
physiotherapy; play activities; observation; special education
