I often think that I was very lucky to have been given a classical physiotherapy training – with its focus on anatomy and physiology, biomechanics and kinesiology, objective testing and quantitative research. But this was enriched no end by being introduced to qualitative research early in the 1990s when it was really taking off in healthcare. Since then I've probably reviewed more than a hundred qualitative research articles and read thousands more. And in all that time I still come back to one simple test of whether qualitative research is any good or not. Whenever I review qualitative research article I ask myself is the study is telling me anything I don't know already. … [Read more...] about A recipe for bad qualitative research
Why pain? Why now?
I've been puzzling for some time why it is that chronic pain seems to be so much in focus for physiotherapists at the moment. For many years, chronic pain resided along with depression, rheumatoid disease and cerebral palsy as one of the many 'Cinderella' disorders and syndromes that physiotherapists in the public system endured (though had little remedy for), and those in the private system indulged, whenever someone could afford to pay for the treatment which was lengthy and, at best, marginally effective. Then, a few years ago, people like David Butler, Louis Gifford and Lorimer Moseley began writing about the neuroscience of pain and it seemed practitioners began to … [Read more...] about Why pain? Why now?
Pain or suffering?
For a lot of its advocates, and there are many, pain has become a touchstone for new kind of physiotherapy practice: a more holistic, complex and person-centred practice that is more in tune with the modern face of healthcare; a healthcare where people want more from their health professional than 15 minutes of interferential and a quick manipulation. Some of the pain specialists in our profession are treated like rock stars and their presentations are guaranteed to fill out venues whenever they speak. People like Lorimer Moseley and David Butler have built their careers on bridging the divide between science and practice, the profession and public, and finding ways to make pain … [Read more...] about Pain or suffering?