We're very protective of your contact information and have built some pretty strong measures into the CPN site (www.criticalphysio.net) to ensure the information you share as members doesn't leak out. But sometimes that means people have problems logging into the site and accessing the members-only content. Access to this part of the site is going to be really important in the coming 12 months as we launch some big changes across the Network. So we need to know if you're having problems logging in. If you can't remember your password, just follow the normal steps. But if you still can't get in and think something is wrong, email me directly and let me know … [Read more...] about Let me know if you can’t access the CPN site
Up and coming with the CPN
Work in an organisation like the CPN can feel like breathing. Sometimes you're inhaling ideas, opportunities, and challenges, and other times you're putting things out into the atmosphere, wondering if your breath smells. Since 2014 we've been trying to be a positive force for an otherwise physiotherapy: writing blog posts, journal articles, and books; running online courses and month-long posting campaigns; making friends, and building networks. But our work has definitely slowed this year. We're writing less editorial blog posts and we ran no Critical Physiotherapy Course in 2021. Perhaps it is COVID, the climate emergency, the existential trauma of Trump, Brexit, and … [Read more...] about Up and coming with the CPN
The evidence for EBP is not self-evident
There is an interesting paradox to evidence-based practice. A person who believes in objective facts is likely to believe that there is a 'best way' to assess and treat people and that rigorous science is the way to locate it. A lot of our clinical trials, best practice guidelines, and quant research starts out with this premise. (We'll call this Option 1) But a person who believes that everyone is unique is also likely to believe that what works depends on the person's perspective, and that what constitutes evidence will be shaped by their unique life experiences and history. Qualitative research and person-centered care start here. (Option 2) And then there are people who believe … [Read more...] about The evidence for EBP is not self-evident
From fragile to mobile – getting patient’s moving
In the 1920s and 30s, heart disease was considered so volatile and dangerous, and patients so vulnerable and fragile, that the best medical advice was to put the patient to bed and allow them to rest. Rest gave doctors and nurses the opportunity to stabilise the precarious cardiovascular system - a system that was hardly known at all - and keep the patient under surveillance. The goal was to prolong life and reduce the incidence of further illness. Recovery seemed an unlikely outcome since any movement might send the heart into a new crisis. Attitudes began to change in the 1950s though, as the incidence of heart disease in America and some European countries became a real concern. … [Read more...] about From fragile to mobile – getting patient’s moving
Is physiotherapy losing touch?
There was an article in The Conversation recently titled After a year of digital learning and virtual teaching, let’s hear it for the joy of real books that gave us another indication of one of the really positive things that might come out of this awful pandemic. Things like people valuing face-to-face meetings again, whilst really appreciating the value of digital connection; people going for walks and gardening; and people reading books again. Perhaps one of the most challenging things for people when they can move freely again will be how comfortable they are being touched by strangers. The Spectator magazine asked recently whether the handshake was dead. Reviewing Ella Al-Shamahi's … [Read more...] about Is physiotherapy losing touch?
The reality of pain
Whereas pain had previously been seen as an essential element of the human condition, from the middle of the eighteenth century humanitarians worked to alleviate pain and suffering where possible--especially when that bodily experience was produced or inflicted by various "social evils" (ranging form alcohol to the excesses of the industrial system) or unjust laws.Ballantyne, T. (2014). Entanglements of Empire: Missionaries, Māori, and the question of the body. Auckland, NZ: Auckland University Press. p. 218 One of the reasons why pain has been so has been so important in defining physiotherapy over the last century is that it is both universal and particular. Pain is experienced by … [Read more...] about The reality of pain
Measuring physiotherapy
Why is it that physiotherapists measure things? Over the last few weeks I’ve talked with some physio colleagues about their work, and been struck by the way they are asking some pretty fundamental questions about physiotherapy. One conversation revolved around the trend towards active treatment and patient self-management. “Why is it”, this colleague asked, “that some physios are giving up on so-called passive treatments? If we were artists, we wouldn’t give up on painting just because the latest trend was for video installations.” Is it because physiotherapists have come to believe their job is to ‘fix’ things in a way that artists never do? There seems to be a lot of hubris and … [Read more...] about Measuring physiotherapy