I've spent a lot of time this year doing the background work for the book that will follow The End of Physiotherapy (available now in paperback from all good book sellers, and an ideal Christmas present). On the advice of a friend of mine, who is a prolific author, I try to write books, book chapters, and articles in one go. What I mean is that all of the arguments are corralled first, along with the data, references, texts and quotes, and then when I've ironed out what my arguments will be, I write the whole thing in one go once. This is quite different to a collaborative writing project, which is much more iterative, but it helps to reduce the seemingly endless re-writing … [Read more...] about Common problems
Having trouble talking to your patients?
Two articles published over the last two weeks suggest that we might be having some problems talking to our patients. The first, by Sullivan, Hebron and Vuoskoski (Sullivan, Hebron, & Vuoskoski, 2019) looks at the anxiety experienced by physiotherapists ‘selling’ their own explanations of chronic pain to patients. The therapists were trying to be patient-centred, but their efforts were undermined by ‘an underlying paternalistic wish to get patients “on board”’ (ibid). The authors attribute this anxiety to the confidence that the therapists feel in their biomedical understanding for pain, coming up against the patient’s values and beliefs that either contradict or destabilise their … [Read more...] about Having trouble talking to your patients?
PhD Studentship in Ageing with Long-Term Chronic Disabling Conditions; University of York, UK
Apart from this looking like a great subject for a supported PhD, it's being supervised by one of the best UK health sociologists. A great opportunity for someone. Karl Atkin and Sarah Nettleton in the Department of Health Sciences and the Department of Sociology, University of York, invite graduates to apply for a funded PhD Studentship in Ageing with Long-Term Chronic Disabling Conditions (UK/EU rates only). The PhD studentship, available on a full-time basis will start in January 2020. The successful candidate will be jointly supervised by Professor Karl Atkin (Department of Health Sciences) and Professor Sarah Nettleton (Department of Sociology). Project details The purpose … [Read more...] about PhD Studentship in Ageing with Long-Term Chronic Disabling Conditions; University of York, UK
Call for papers for new Journal of Praxis in Higher Education
Prof Anne Kinsella, one of the editors of our upcoming collection of critical physiotherapy writings - Mobilising knowledge - is on the editorial board of this new journal. Here is a recent call for papers. Journal of Praxis in Higher Education JPHE is a new international, open access, online journal dedicated to high quality research on praxis within, and related to, teaching, learning and researching in higher education.It is now calling for papers for its first issue to be published November 1, 2019. Praxis is a contested term that, in many contexts, is used interchangeably with ‘practice’, or understood as routine or habitual human activity. However, it has also come … [Read more...] about Call for papers for new Journal of Praxis in Higher Education
Professional values
A recent study in Physiotherapy Canada looked to try to identify core physiotherapy professional values from both primary and grey literature and the views of physiotherapists attending the 2016 CPA Congress. The findings of the study perhaps unsurprising, with 10 values coming out most strongly: accountabilityadvocacyaltruismcompassion and caringequityexcellenceintegritypatient and client centredrespectsocial responsibility What is interesting about these values is not so much that they are stated at all - after all, most established health professions could and do claim similar values - but rather how they are acquired. Physiotherapy training programmes go to inordinate amounts … [Read more...] about Professional values
A short CPN update
' A few noteworthy events have happened at CPN Towers over the last few weeks. CPN Exec calls for more critical scholarship Firstly, an editorial written by various members of the CPN Exec appeared in Physiotherapy Canada today. Titled Infusing Rehabilitation with Critical Research and Scholarship: A Call to Action, the paper followed a conversation with Prof Dina Brooks after our last CPN Salon in Cape Town last year. Dina challenged the CPN to do more to explain criticality to physiotherapists, and this paper was part of that conversation (full pdf here). Planning for 2019 Secondly, we had our end-of-year strategic planning meeting last week and had the full Executive present: myself … [Read more...] about A short CPN update
Open Physio online journal open for business
A radical new adventure in physiotherapy research publication was launched recently, and would be a fabulous vehicle for publishing for people in and around the Critical Physiotherapy Network. The OpenPhysio journal is the brainchild of A/Prof Michael Rowe, CPN Exec member and lecturer at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. Supported by Physio-pedia, the journal is different to any journal you have probably ever seen before. Research is published immediately, with no delay for administration or peer approval. Peer review is open to everyone and all feedback is collaborative. Responses are published alongside the finished article and represent their own citable … [Read more...] about Open Physio online journal open for business