A very interesting thing has been happening with the CPN blog in recent weeks. After publishing two relatively controversial blogposts - one on Six useless treatments and the other titled There are no new treatments in physiotherapy, we saw a big spike in members and enquiries through our email service. The post There are no new treatments in physiotherapy has been accessed more than 15,000 times on Facebook, and Six useless treatments nearly 13,000 times. These might not be particularly big numbers for Justin Bieber, but they are for most groups in physiotherapy. What is it about these posts that made them so popular? Based on some of the emails we received after they went … [Read more...] about Desperately seeking evidence
It’s difficult to innovate in the NHS
The title of this post comes from a recent story on the CSP's website, celebrating the success of a physiotherapist, Lucy Cassidy, who took the main prize at this year’s Advancing Healthcare awards. Her prize was for the development of a virtual fracture clinic at Brighton and Sussex University Trust. In responding to the prize, Lucy commented that "It’s difficult to innovate in the NHS because of financial constraints, and entrepreneurship is often about trying to find a win-win situation with the private sector to support new services." This got me thinking about why it is that the public sector should so often be thought of as such a moribund place for innovation and … [Read more...] about It’s difficult to innovate in the NHS
Physiotherapy is part of the debt we pay when things go wrong
English law once included a principal that the thing that had caused accidental death or injury - the carving knife that had accidentally chopped off the finger, or the carriage that trampled the person's leg - should be surrendered to God in recognition of its part in causing harm or suffering. This 'thing' was called a deodand and it existed in law from around 1200AD until it was abolished in 1846. The object would be surrendered to the crown and used or sold to compensate for the harm done. William Pietz said that 'any culture must establish some procedure of compensation, expiation, or punishment to settle the debt created by unintended human deaths whose direct cause is not a … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy is part of the debt we pay when things go wrong
beyond the machine: a panel debate hosted by the Institute of Art & Ideas
The Insitute of Art & Ideas is a not-for-profit organisation that was founded in 2008 to put philosophy & critical thinking into the heart of public life (follow this link to find more about the organisation & the exciting things they're doing). One way the IAI achieves this is by hosting cutting edge debates & talks from thought leaders from a wide range of disciplines & backgrounds. Beyond the Machine - metaphors of the body From Descartes’ view of the heart as a pump to Dennett’s conception of the brain as a computer, our understanding of the body is permeated with mechanical metaphors. Is it an error to believe that the body is a machine? Should we find a new … [Read more...] about beyond the machine: a panel debate hosted by the Institute of Art & Ideas
There are no new treatments in physiotherapy
A few days ago, I responded to a Tweet from Glyn Blakey (@saebouglyn) and Mary Banks (@MaryBanksy) after Mary had posted up a paper suggesting that the Saebo Mobile Arm Support (SaeboMAS) had reduced tonic muscle activity across all muscles, and that this had had a positive influence on corticomotor selectivity of biceps brachii during a counterbalanced movement tasks. This all sounds very fancy, but what it basically means is that if you support the arm, the patient who is having difficulty moving, can concentrate on one joint activity while the rest of the limb is supported. You'll get a better idea if you see a picture of the SaeboMAS at work: Seeing the paper made me wonder … [Read more...] about There are no new treatments in physiotherapy
Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness (Spanish)
Here is another Spanish translation by Alma Viviana Silva of an earlier blogpost. Again, huge thanks to Viviana for this amazing work. Neurociencia y una visión radical de la consciencia Uno de los mayores retos en la filosofía y la ciencia siempre ha sido definir lo que significa ser consciente. Para algo tan fundamental como nuestras creencias sobre lo que es real y qué es ficción, lo que es real o verdadero y lo que es falso, se podría pensar que los fundamentos básicos de nuestra creencia de que - de una conciencia biológica - sería un hecho científico. No lo es tanto asi. Los científicos y los filósofos no estan realmente más cerca de la comprensión de la naturaleza de la … [Read more...] about Neuroscience and a radical view of consciousness (Spanish)
What skills are you losing?
In a recent article by titled Listening-touch, Affect and the Crafting of Medical Bodies through Percussion, Anna Harris discusses the effect that technology has had on the loss of doctors' physical assessment and treatment skills. The article focuses on the technique of percussion - the 'listening touch' as she calls it, that comes from percussing the chest to perceive the density of underlying tissues. Here's the abstract for the paper, and here's a link to the paper itself: Abstract The growing abundance of medical technologies has led to laments over doctors’ sensory de-skilling, technologies viewed as replacing diagnosis based on sensory acumen. The technique of percussion has … [Read more...] about What skills are you losing?