Over the last few days, we’ve achieved another landmark in the evolution of the CPN, when six members of the Network presented the first Critical Physiotherapy Forum at the Australian Physiotherapy Association Conference on the Gold Coast, Queensland (link). Led by CPN Exec member Jenny Setchell in collaboration with the APA, we outlined five different critical research programmes and topics of critical interest, before hosting a panel discussion on the possibilities for more critical physiotherapy thinking and practice in the future Ian Edwards - What is the source of our ethical obligation in physiotherapy practice: Codes of Conduct or the Levinasian face? Amy Hiller - ‘Insider’ … [Read more...] about CPN at the 2015 APA Conference
The social construction of pain
äMedicine convinces us that we can understand the human condition biologically. Pain teaches us otherwise. Pain, as we know it today, bears all the hallmarks of a subjective phenomenon that can only be understood by the person experiencing it. Yet even this belief has a history; a history that is closely tied to the genealogy of the physiotherapy profession. Tony Ballantyne has explored the way pain became a vehicle for social reformers after the 17th century, shaping many of the health and social welfare reforms that were to follow. Ballantyne argues above that pain narratives were a powerful way for humanitarians to promote the belief that the state should take responsibility for … [Read more...] about The social construction of pain
The Filling – a blogpost on emotion and pain
This extract comes from a post by CPN member Kyle Ridgeway. Kyle's work concentrates on opening up physical therapy to a more diverse range of positions, including the influence of areas previously beyond the scope of most therapists' thinking - engineering, mathematics and philosophy. This post looks at experiential dimensions of pain experience, referencing the all too common experience of going to the dentist. Some people utterly despise going to the dentist. I get it. The face and mouth are a locus of sensory innervation, and a dentist’s tools don’t exactly exude comfort. The grinding, the drilling, the scraping. Someone else’s hands in your mouth. Bleeding gums. Mouth held open, … [Read more...] about The Filling – a blogpost on emotion and pain
Research update: Lifelong activity, chronic pain, therapatients, children’s embodiment, prostheses and body image
A few interesting new research studies have come out this week that I thought might be of interest. Each of these has some interesting connections with critical physiotherapy. Click on the links in the title of each article for more information. Characteristics of lifelong physically active older adults Sheryl L. Chatfield Abstract Most adults in developed countries fail to accrue enough regular physical activity to prevent or decrease the impact of chronic diseases associated with aging. I conducted semistructured interviews with 16 purposely selected older adults ranging in age from 53 to 70 years to explore the practices of successful lifelong adherents to physical activity. I … [Read more...] about Research update: Lifelong activity, chronic pain, therapatients, children’s embodiment, prostheses and body image
Pain or suffering?
For a lot of its advocates, and there are many, pain has become a touchstone for new kind of physiotherapy practice: a more holistic, complex and person-centred practice that is more in tune with the modern face of healthcare; a healthcare where people want more from their health professional than 15 minutes of interferential and a quick manipulation. Some of the pain specialists in our profession are treated like rock stars and their presentations are guaranteed to fill out venues whenever they speak. People like Lorimer Moseley and David Butler have built their careers on bridging the divide between science and practice, the profession and public, and finding ways to make pain … [Read more...] about Pain or suffering?
No pain, no gain
Reading a recent book on Nurses and Midwives in Nazi Germany: The "Euthanasia Programs" by Susan Benedict and Linda Shields reminded me the that there is often a reluctance to research the darker sides to our professional histories. I remember Dave Holmes once telling me that he received some really aggressive and distressing criticism from his colleagues when his paper Killing for the state: The darkest side of American nursing was published. It seems that people within nursing took exception to someone questioning the morality of nurses who made people comfortable on death row in preparation for the electric chair and the lethal injection. In some ways I can understand this kind of … [Read more...] about No pain, no gain
Critical Physiotherapy returns
If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, today probably marks your return to work day. For some in the South it should be holiday, so wherever you are I hope you had a relaxing and peaceful break. I stopped doing a lot of work-related things on the 19th December and am only coming back to it now in anticipation of an exciting year ahead, so apologies for the 'radio silence' over the last three weeks. It's been bliss. I stepped down as Head of Department at the turn of the year and start a six month sabbatical today, so I'll be doing a lot of blogging, reading and writing over that time (more about this in the next few days). I did, however, keep reading some of my favourite news-sites and … [Read more...] about Critical Physiotherapy returns