There have been a few occasions over the last few months when people within the Critical Physiotherapy Network have been asked to do more for physiotherapy. The first time happened after our CPN Salon in Cape Town last year. Our esteemed colleague Professor Dina Brooks began the discussion by asking the CPN to do more to help mainstream physiotherapists make complex theories and philosophies more accessible. In her Reflections of a quantitative researcher on the CPN Salon, posted in July last year, Dina argued that the CPN risked functioning like a 'club' that excluded those who didn't subscribe to its principles. One of Dina's arguments at the time was that the CPN should build … [Read more...] about What should critical physiotherapy do for you?
Radical new ways to think about physiotherapy
The way we think about physiotherapy is overdue a radical shake-up. A couple of months ago, Charles Jennings wrote an interesting piece about the way our use of knowledge is changing, and these ideas have some important implications the way next generations of physiotherapists are learn their craft. Jennings' piece is titled 'Learning in the Collaboration Age' (link), and it focuses on the role collaboration is playing in learning. Jennings contrasts what he calls 'old' ways of acquiring knowledge (often characterised as 'knowing that'), with what is becoming increasingly common these days (knowing how, knowing why). Jennings argues that 'Although experiential and social learning … [Read more...] about Radical new ways to think about physiotherapy
30 Days of September: Day 28
Today's image was suggested by Hazel Horobin. Click on the image to open it to full size. You can then save it and turn it into a desktop background by following these brief instructions. … [Read more...] about 30 Days of September: Day 28
30 Days of September: Day 14
Today's image was suggested by Adam Bjerre. Click on the image to open it to full size. You can then save it and turn it into a desktop background by following these brief instructions. … [Read more...] about 30 Days of September: Day 14
Will technology make physiotherapy obsolete?
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?
The future for physiotherapy education
Lets assume, for a moment, that only our most modest predictions for the effects of new digital technologies, bodily enhancements, robotic technologies and advances in augmented reality come true, and that lots of our customary ways of thinking and being remain unchanged over the next half century. If we only see a moderate increase in people's use of the Internet as their primary source of health knowledge, and only a few people experience radical changes to their rehabilitation, home care and specialised healthcare, then we are still looking at a significantly different future for physiotherapy than we have today. So what will even some of the most modest changes mean for the … [Read more...] about The future for physiotherapy education
All feedback is projection
I spend a lot of my time at the university these days working with psychologists and psychotherapists, and one of the things I am always struck by is how much of what they learn could be applied to other healthcare practices, especially professions like physiotherapy. The quote in the title; 'All feedback is projection', for example, was told to me by a psychotherapy colleague who was explaining how it is that people will give you feedback from their own perspective but, more often than not, what they're really doing is projecting their own values and beliefs and its not ever entirely about you. I've thought about that a lot when I've reflected on the advice I've been given by people … [Read more...] about All feedback is projection
