Here's a thought. On Stephen Downes' ever reliable site, Downes recently reviewed an essay on Aeon by William Eamon, titled 'Six centuries of secularism: When the first ‘how-to’ books began to explain the way the world worked, they paved the way for science and secularism' (link). Now before you close the blog and think "what on earth did that have to do with physiotherapy", consider this argument from Downes, who summarises Eamon's ideas as an; [i]nteresting thesis: "by elaborating mechanical processes and spelling out how things worked – in striking contrast to the well-documented secrecy of the guilds – writers began to transform the mechanical arts from personal know-how into … [Read more...] about Is physiotherapy linked to the birth of modern writing?
Physiotherapy is part of the debt we pay when things go wrong
English law once included a principal that the thing that had caused accidental death or injury - the carving knife that had accidentally chopped off the finger, or the carriage that trampled the person's leg - should be surrendered to God in recognition of its part in causing harm or suffering. This 'thing' was called a deodand and it existed in law from around 1200AD until it was abolished in 1846. The object would be surrendered to the crown and used or sold to compensate for the harm done. William Pietz said that 'any culture must establish some procedure of compensation, expiation, or punishment to settle the debt created by unintended human deaths whose direct cause is not a … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy is part of the debt we pay when things go wrong
When was physiotherapy born?
I've recently been reading quite a lot of new historical writing around the early history of physiotherapy. Much of it has concentrated on the effect of the First World War on the profession in North America, Britain and the Antipodes, but I've also been reading Anders Ottosson's excellent, and provocative recent papers. Many of you will know of Anders's work, especially his paper The manipulated history of manipulations of spines and joints (pdf) and his thesis Sjukgymnasten - vart tog han vägen?: En undersökning av sjukgymnastyrkets maskulinisering och avmaskulinisering 1813-1934, which argue that physiotherapy originated with the mechano-therapy and medical gymnastics of Pehr Henrik … [Read more...] about When was physiotherapy born?
Review of the Critical Physiotherapy Forum held at the recent APA Conference
This post from CPN member Amy Hiller was recently published in the Australian Physiotherapy Association's InMotion magazine (link) and is reproduced with the kind permission of the APA. There is a link to the original pdf here. The critical physiotherapy forum aimed to provide a platform for thought and discussion about the practice of physiotherapy, highlighting philosophical, historical, ethical and social aspects of the profession. The theme of the session was consideration for ‘how the profession is, was and can be’. This was the first known conference session dedicated to ideas related to critical physiotherapy anywhere in the world – very exciting and innovative for the … [Read more...] about Review of the Critical Physiotherapy Forum held at the recent APA Conference
The cult of the hero
Having talked with people about my last blog entry (Exercising our demons, 16th May 2010), one of the most interesting conversations centred around physiotherapy’s fascination with its heros; the ‘big names’ in the profession that are made famous by their inventions and innovations. The last blog entry touched on this only briefly, and only in the sense that I expressed my dislike for the naked evangelizing of some of the speakers at our conference. But there is a bigger point here that deserves consideration, because - as a couple of my colleagues pointed out - physiotherapy really does suffer, at times, from the cult of the hero. … [Read more...] about The cult of the hero
WCPT inaugural congress (London, 1953)
Film (16:55') produced by the CSP, published on YouTube 19 Feburary 2013 (to view the video via YouTube please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7H4weMzieo) You will find more resources like this in the Network Library section of the website … [Read more...] about WCPT inaugural congress (London, 1953)
New: Day
This is the last of this year's 30 Days of September postings. There has been one posted every day this month, and each one has focused on something 'New.' They've been a lot of fun to write, and my hope is that they have been interesting and provocative, without ever being dismissive or derogatory. So I'd like to close off this year's offerings with some wisdom from one of the great Roman Stoic philosophers, Marcus Aurelius (121-180AD): We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions (From Meditations). Remember … [Read more...] about New: Day