In this post, CPN Executive member and physiotherapy lecturer Nicky Wilson discusses Hendrik Wagenaar's book Meaning in Action: Interpretation and dialogue in policy analysis. Policies are conventionally seen as a way to solve problems. As such, they are action driven; they direct our thoughts and behaviours to produce certain ends. Public policy is therefore about power and, unsurprisingly, is an area rife with contestation! In Meaning in Action: Interpretation and Dialogue in Policy Analysis (2011), Hendrik Wagenaar highlights the deeply pluralistic and value-laden nature of policy making, implementation and interpretation, and brings to the fore the benefits of interpretive … [Read more...] about Nicky Wilson – Meaning in action – 30DoS #26
Birgitte Ahlsen – The wounded storyteller – 30DoS #16
The wounded storyteller (1995/2013) has a strong position within the field of illness and health. In this book, Frank introduces the “remission society” concept, whose members include those who may be medically “cured” from illness, but “share the worries and daily triumph of staying well”. Drawing on Susan Sontag’s metaphor of two kingdoms; that of the well and that of the sick, the members of the remission society, Frank writes, are in between or secretly hidden among the healthy. Frank claims that their illness stories are more than accounts of personal suffering; they contain moral choices and social ethics. The book is perhaps most famous for the three typologies of illness narratives … [Read more...] about Birgitte Ahlsen – The wounded storyteller – 30DoS #16
Catherine Sykes – The ICF – 30DoS #10
Published in 2001 the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has stimulated a change in understanding of what is understood as human functioning and the role of the environment in the experience of functioning. I was involved in the development of ICF and have continued to work on the implementation of the model and classifications in health and social welfare data collections. Whilst the model has informed the education and practice of physical therapists the adoption of the classification for statistics has been slow. Why? Some argue that it is too detailed, too complicated. The key to ICF is to keep the individual as the … [Read more...] about Catherine Sykes – The ICF – 30DoS #10
Interesting outcome
A quick quiz... What do these outcomes measures have in common? The Step Activity Monitor (SAM) Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) Fatigue Scale The Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke (PASS) And the Hierarchical Assessment of Balance and Mobility (HABAM) Yes, they do all suffer from the same urge to give every outcomes measure an acronyms. (Although it has to be said that the people who invented the Physiotherapy Functional Mobility Profile Questionnaire (PFMP-Q), had no desire to give their outcome measure a memorable name or acronym). But that's not the right answer. The answer is that they are all outcome measures developed in the last 20 years that are widely … [Read more...] about Interesting outcome
There was always more than one body in physiotherapy
When physiotherapists refer to the body, they're often referring to the body that's defined by biomedicine: organised into systems; physical; patho-anatomical; cellular; the place where injury and illness can be located; biological. But this only accounts for a small group of 'bodies' that we encounter in practice every day. A recent conference announcement highlighted some of the bodies that Victorians were interested in, and many of these still interest physiotherapists: busy bodies body markings disabled bodies prosthetics bodies behaving badly the body as spectacle fragmented bodies queer bodies raced bodies disciplined bodies animal bodies … [Read more...] about There was always more than one body in physiotherapy
Stop telling people to lose weight and get more exercise
Sadly, it seems we cannot escape the fact that many physiotherapists now believe that part of the answer to the problems now facing the profession can be resolved, at least in part, by telling people to lose weight, stop smoking, and get more exercise. The need to feel part of the move towards population-based primary health care has induced many traditional and orthodox health professionals to scratch their heads and ask what their social function will be in the future. It seems reasonably clear that traditional sources of work, like the specialist care that once took place in large hospitals, and the routine self-limiting, acute musculoskeletal disorders that made up significant … [Read more...] about Stop telling people to lose weight and get more exercise
Educating the deliberate professional – new book from CPN members
This new book, which is available here, has just been produced by long-time CPN member Professor Franziska Trede in collaboration with Dr Celina McEwen from The Education for Practice Institute at Charles Sturt University (CSU). The book examines how the role and identity of universities are increasingly affected by current worldwide social trends towards globalisation, digitalisation, and an emphasis on individualism. Professor Trede, Co-Director of the Institute, said these changes have led to universities being positioned in a force field of competing interests, and the book discusses growing global trends and their associated tighter connections between university education and the … [Read more...] about Educating the deliberate professional – new book from CPN members