Part 1 The changes now taking place in healthcare should provide great material for really thoughtful, well-conduced qualitative health research (QHR). But sadly little of it is being produced, especially in physiotherapy, where the amount and quality of much of the qualitative research we have available is really quite poor. So over the course of the next few weeks, I thought I’d try to tackle some of this in a similar way to the way I hacked at the biomedical model last year (see here). My hope is that in doing this, people will understand more about QHR, and that might, in turn, lead to some new and exciting research. Before I begin, I should acknowledge that there are literally … [Read more...] about Qualitative Health Research – a guide for the perplexed
Don’t forget to vote for history’s greatest physio!
I voted today for the person I think has been history's greatest physio, and I'm on the History Exec, so I'm pretty confident I'm going to win. (Only joking!). But don't forget to put your nomination in. It takes 5 minutes, so do it now before you forget ... http://history.physio/greatest/ … [Read more...] about Don’t forget to vote for history’s greatest physio!
What is the biomedical model #3
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been running a series of blog posts on the biomedical model. Biomedicine is, without doubt, one of the most powerful discourse affecting the way physiotherapists think and practice, but it is also rarely explained or explored. So over the next few blog posts I’ll be unpacking its essential features. The first two posts in the series focused on specific aetiology and germ theory. In this post, we’re going to tackle Cartesian Dualism. Cartesian Dualism gets it’s name from the work of the French skeptical philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650) who, perhaps more than anyone, captured the zeitgeist of the Renaissance by defining a distinction between the mind … [Read more...] about What is the biomedical model #3
Different kinds of work
What does work mean to physiotherapists? A recent article in the journal Qualitative Health Research highlighted some of the different meanings of work for 12 women with cancer (link). One of the most interesting findings from the study was that there were many different kinds of work experienced by the women, including “illness work, body work, identity work, everyday work, paid employment and/or the work of maintaining income, and coordination work”. When you include things like the work of breathing and professional work, you have a concept that is both at the heart of physiotherapy practice, and yet almost entirely un-theorised. Work has a particularly interesting history, … [Read more...] about Different kinds of work
Call for Papers: Mechanical medicine – Exploring the History of Healing by Exercise, Manipulation and Massage.
MECHANICAL MEDICINE Exploring the History of Healing by Exercise, Manipulation and Massage. 23 May 2019, Science Museum, London. A symposium at the Science Museum, London, organised by Dr Kay Nias (Medicine Galleries Research Fellow). ‘Physical medicine’ or ‘physical therapy’ has ancient origins. For thousands of years, people with illnesses and disabilities have been treated with physio-therapeutic techniques including exercise, manipulation and massage, as well as air, water, heat and cold, electricity and light. These various healing methods have rich and diverse histories that span time, cultures and medical traditions. While documentary evidence representing the … [Read more...] about Call for Papers: Mechanical medicine – Exploring the History of Healing by Exercise, Manipulation and Massage.
Are you interested in the history of physiotherapy?
A few months ago a new international group was formed by people interested in the history of physiotherapy. The International Physiotherapy History Association (IPHA) is a collection of clinicians, policy-makers, researchers, students and teachers, who are interested in bringing physiotherapy history alive. The group will be working over the next few years to promote the history of physiotherapy as a resource for present-day practice, professional decision-making, management and leadership, teaching, and regulation; to celebrate our past; challenge the profession to learn from its history; and support the safe archiving for future generations. But why now? Well perhaps the group … [Read more...] about Are you interested in the history of physiotherapy?
Reading personality into people’s movements
David Armstrong described in his brilliant book A New History of Identity how exercise and specifically posture had been utilised as tools of social engineering in the late 19th century (Armstrong 2002). When we think of a person's attitude today, we often think of it as being about their response to authority, but it was originally a term used to describe a child's standing posture. Towards the end of the 1800s governments throughout Europe and North America grew increasingly concerned about the fitness and strength of its citizens and began to think about ways to discipline children before they became slovenly. Military-style drilling and massed social calisthenics were encouraged, … [Read more...] about Reading personality into people’s movements