A few weeks ago, I took part in a panel discussion on the theme of 'The university is dead: Long live the university'. The keynote presenter - the very brilliant Professor Jane Gilbert - talked about how technology is going to disrupt every aspect of our lives in the future. Ever since the talk I've been pondering how much technology will disrupt the kinds of physiotherapy people might need in the future. Here are just three examples of disruptive technologies and ways of thinking and working that are due for a shakeup in the very near future: Fact-based technical subjects, like the kinds of science-bases subjects commonly thought of as 'core' subject in physiotherapy (anatomy, … [Read more...] about Will technology make physiotherapy obsolete?
Physiotherapie beurteilen
This German translation of the article 'Judging physiotherapy' posted earlier this week, was kindly produced by CPN member Filip Maric. WCPT-Präsident Emma Stokes, Professor Peter O'Sullivan und andere haben sich diese Woche in einer Twitter-Diskussion damit auseinandergesetzt wie man in der Physiotherapie eine Kultur schaffen könnte die Wandel und Veränderung pflegt und fördert (siehe @ekstokes twitter feed für den 29. Mai). Die Idee von ‘Raum ohne Urteil’ wurde als eine positivere Herangehensweise zu Veränderung vorgeschlagen, als die häufiger übliche gegenseite Kritik unter Physiotherapeuten auf eine abwertende Art und Weise (@karenlitzyNYC, 29. Mai). Ein paar Tage zuvor … [Read more...] about Physiotherapie beurteilen
Judging physiotherapy
WCPT President Emma Stokes, Professor Peter O'Sullivan and others have been engaged this week in a Twitter discussion about how to create a culture in physiotherapy that nurtures change (see @ekstokes twitter feed for 29th May). The idea of 'space without judgement' was suggested as a more positive approach to change than physiotherapists perpetually 'bashing each other' (@karenlitzyNYC, 29 May). A few days earlier, Laura Opstedal had written about Letting go of traditions in physical therapy, arguing that resistance to change was a big barrier to progress, and that exploring 'the new' might be a creative way to proceed. This post followed nicely on from Roger Kerry's piece … [Read more...] about Judging physiotherapy
The case for ‘caring activism’
A recent review of Peter Limbrick's new book made me think about some of the anxieties many of us are now feeling about the slow bleeding out of publicly-funded healthcare, and what it might mean for the future of professions like physiotherapy. A full review of the book, titled Caring activism: a 21st century concept of care. A proposal for citizens to join together to support vulnerable children, teenagers, adults and elderly people, can be read here, but what particularly struck me were these two opening paragraphs; Peter Limbrick’s Caring Activism argues the case for what he calls ‘a new concept of care I am proposing for vulnerable people in this 21st Century’ (13). Limbrick … [Read more...] about The case for ‘caring activism’
Should we give up physiotherapy?
One of the biggest dilemmas facing the physiotherapy profession today is how to keep it alive. Given the unrelenting pressures to reform, cut costs, and redesign practice, it's hard to know whether to push the profession's stability, history and established culture, or to promote a radical new professional image. And faced with healthcare innovations that seem to be dissolving old certainties, it's hard to know whether we like it or not. Imagine, for instance, that robots were shown to be more reliable manipulators than physios, or that a low-cost assistant could do the work of post-op respiratory physiotherapy just as well as an expensively trained clinician. Would we promote … [Read more...] about Should we give up physiotherapy?
Slow physiotherapy
For a long time now, physiotherapy practice has been becoming increasingly pressured, with less time to spend with clients, tighter regulations about the number of appointments, and unrelenting pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our interventions. Where once patients would be in our hands for long enough to enjoy a modicum of rehabilitation or respite, now the emphasis is on the shortest possible contact necessary to cut the cost of care. I'm not suggesting that there's anything wrong with efficiency, independence and autonomy per se (well, I am, but that's for another day), and I'm well aware that the kinds of long-term care experienced by people under the … [Read more...] about Slow physiotherapy
Is there anyone better placed than a physio?
Thank you to everyone who responded to our last post on 10 reasons to love physiotherapy (link). These are strange and unsettling times, and it helps sometimes to be reminded of the good things that we do. This post follows on from last week's, asking the question whether there anyone better placed to take advantage of the changing face of healthcare than physiotherapists. Physiotherapists can sometimes forget how perfectly their skills and abilities line up with what people will want in the future, and we have perhaps been our own worst enemies in ignoring or minimising the power of some of these things in the past. So ask yourself this*: Are doctors better placed than physios … [Read more...] about Is there anyone better placed than a physio?
