The great American philosopher, Hilary Putnam, died a few days ago (13 March) at the grand age of 89, leaving behind an amazing legacy of ideas and thoughtful inquiry (obituary here). Putnam was someone who applied philosophical ideas from the natural sciences to areas as diverse as religion, ethics and aesthetics and was a major influence on analytical philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. One of Putnam's most famous sayings was that "Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs in one." Reading this again the other day made me reflect on one of the longstanding paradoxes of physiotherapy - namely the desire to pin it down; identify it so that people will (finally) … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy – in a nutshell
Six useless treatments
The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) recently pronounced that six interventions commonly used by physiotherapists are useless and were no longer being supported (link). As part of the Choosing Wisely initiative, the APA has decided that requesting imaging for certain instances of non-specific low back pain, cervical pain, and acute ankle trauma; plus the routine use incentive spirometry after upper abdominal and cardiac surgery, electrotherapy in cases of lower back pain, and manual therapy for patients with frozen shoulder, are all now discouraged. There are some interesting aspects to this decision that warrant some more thought. Firstly, there is the … [Read more...] about Six useless treatments
Looking at physiotherapy through fresh eyes
A few months ago I moved to a new job. Having been part of the Physiotherapy Department at AUT for the last 15 years, I moved into a new school at the start of the year, and the new school put me in close proximity to psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors. My job has involved getting to know how they think and work, and trying to organise the day-to-day business of teaching and learning for these professionals who think very differently to the physiotherapists I have worked with for so long. Working with these people has given me new perspectives on ways people think about health care, students, patients, other professions, and the things that are customary and commonplace. … [Read more...] about Looking at physiotherapy through fresh eyes