A friend of mine recently sent me this cartoon after hearing me talk about some work that I've been doing looking at the history of physical therapies in New Zealand in the 19th century (in short - there was none). It got me thinking about the lack of really good critical historical work in physiotherapy; the kind of thing that goes beyond just the linear narrative of one event following another and, instead, tells you something about the conditions that made the present possible. There are some really stunning historical works in health and medicine, particularly around how we have come to understand the body and health care (see a very selective sample of references below), but it … [Read more...] about Doomed to repeat
Three theses on gender and physiotherapy
Gender is an issue that has become increasingly important in physiotherapy scholarship in recent years. The first time research by a physiotherapist that specifically addressed this question was a paper by Anne Parry with what must still be the best title for any research paper ever written: Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did backwards and in high heels (pdf). The paper still resonates strongly with me and has some important things to say about our professions gendered history. Anders Ottosson's seminal work on the 'feminization' of physiotherapy in 19th century still stands as one of the most important works on the subject, but there are other important works too, and these … [Read more...] about Three theses on gender and physiotherapy
The 'B-side' of physiotherapy history
For some years now, I've been researching physiotherapy history. Sometimes doing this kind of work throws up surprising and poignant reminders of how much has changed, and also sometimes how little. A few weeks ago, I found an old newspaper article from The Otago Daily Times from 1957. The article had been given to me by an a retired physio who knew I was collating material for an interactive website we were creating to celebrate the centenary of physiotherapy in New Zealand (link). The article was a simple piece about the School of Physiotherapy. At the time this was the only physiotherapy school in New Zealand and the article talked about how the school ran, what the students did and … [Read more...] about The 'B-side' of physiotherapy history
No sex please, we’re physiotherapists
The physiotherapy profession has a rather odd relationship with sex and sensuality. On the one hand, it lies at the heart of everything that physiotherapists do, on the other it is almost completely invisibly; un-theorized, glanced over in graduate programmes, and almost invisible in models that try to explain what physiotherapy is and isn't. Over the course of the next few blogposts, I want to tackle some of the issues that surround sex and physiotherapy and see if we can't develop a more mature appreciation for it's everyday role in defining our professional subjectivity. To begin with, we should acknowledge the role that sex played in the formation of the physiotherapy profession. … [Read more...] about No sex please, we’re physiotherapists
World Confederation of Physical Therapy Congress 2015
I had an absolute whirlwind day at the first day of the WCPT Congress in Singapore, starting at 7am with the Mental Health networking session and finally heading back to the hotel at 11.30pm from the @PTpubnight at the Berlin Bar. The best way to catch some of the feeling of being here is through twitter – have a look at the hashtag #WCPT2015 for dips into most of the sessions plus some social snippets as well. The overwhelming feeling here is that it is wonderful to be in such a global environment with delegates being able to learn from each other and constantly challenge local assumptions we make about what it is to ‘be a physiotherapist’. What follows are some personal highlights from … [Read more...] about World Confederation of Physical Therapy Congress 2015
1st WCPT Congress in 1953 – images from programme
These images are from the programme of the 1st Congress of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy held in London in September 1953. … [Read more...] about 1st WCPT Congress in 1953 – images from programme
Catherine Worthington’s notes from the 1st WCPT Congress in 1953
This post follows a blogpost on a brief history of the 1st WCPT Congress in London in 1953. You can access this post here. Catherine Worthingham from the USA - who would later give her name to prestigious APTA Fellowships - gave a talk on Trends in physical therapy education that is worth briefly quoting from: Although physical therapy is one of the oldest forms of patient care, it is a relative newcomer to the constellation of medical and medical auxiliary professions. This fact is both a handicap and an advantage. A handicap, because recognition and appropriate support for a new field of professional effort is hard to obtain. An advantage, in that as a new profession we are not … [Read more...] about Catherine Worthington’s notes from the 1st WCPT Congress in 1953