The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation’s new section, Critical Research and Perspectives is dedicated to publishing papers and other works that employ critical perspectives on rehabilitation. The creation of this focused section of JHR presents an exciting opportunity to showcase rigorous critical rehabilitation research and scholarship. See the full call for papers here. We seek submissions that explore the application of critical, post-structural, or postmodern theories (broadly defined) to advance understandings of rehabilitation—including original research, think pieces, and theoretical discussions of the philosophical basis of rehabilitation practices, education, and/or … [Read more...] about A call for critical papers
A recipe for bad qualitative research
I often think that I was very lucky to have been given a classical physiotherapy training – with its focus on anatomy and physiology, biomechanics and kinesiology, objective testing and quantitative research. But this was enriched no end by being introduced to qualitative research early in the 1990s when it was really taking off in healthcare. Since then I've probably reviewed more than a hundred qualitative research articles and read thousands more. And in all that time I still come back to one simple test of whether qualitative research is any good or not. Whenever I review qualitative research article I ask myself is the study is telling me anything I don't know already. … [Read more...] about A recipe for bad qualitative research
Vulnerability in research ethics
Blogpost from Cath Cruse-Drew Today’s blog is a summary from my notes and the reading list from a lecture given by Dr Silvia Camporesi. I was reminded of it this week by an email requesting subjects for a Stroke research project. Prior to Dr Camporesi’s lecture, I didn’t think enough about the difficulties around subject selection, and although I have much left to learn, I hope a summary of one aspect of subject selection is helpful to Physios who may be clinically orientated and not involved in research design. The concept of vulnerability in research bioethics emerged in the Belmont report in 1979, following the establishment of a National Commission which was itself a response to … [Read more...] about Vulnerability in research ethics
A revolution in physiotherapy publishing
A radical new adventure in physiotherapy research publication was launched last week. The OpenPhysio journal is the brainchild of A/Prof Michael Rowe, CPN Exec member and lecturer at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. Supported by Physio-pedia, the journal is different to any journal you have probably ever seen before. Research is published immediately, with no delay for administration or peer approval. Peer review is open to everyone and all feedback is collaborative. Responses are published alongside the finished article and represent their own citable intellectual property. There are no page fees and you retain copyright. Articles can include a … [Read more...] about A revolution in physiotherapy publishing
Innovation in physiotherapy
Spend any time thinking about innovations in practice, research, education or ideas and you come up against the problem of how to break the mold. There are all sorts of barriers to overcome if you are going to be truly, radically, innovative. Many people find the idea of change unsettling, others might be skeptical that real change ever happens. Others may be perfectly happy with how things are and ask why we would want to 'fix' something that isn't broken in the first place. Then there are regulatory restrictions and customs and practices that purposefully place limits on what can be said and done in the name of physiotherapy, medicine, dentistry, etc. Innovation, by definition, … [Read more...] about Innovation in physiotherapy
Trump, Brexit and physiotherapy
Like most people, I'm still feeling the shock of Donald Trump's US presidential election win last week. Once all the dust has settled, and people have started to face up to what has been called the 'post-truth' era in politics (see this or this), there will have to be some real soul searching about what this all means for the future of our societies. Big issues like environmental degradation, personal security, tolerance for others, and health, will play out alongside more 'local' issues like paying the weekly bills, dealing with family problems, and managing our busy lives. Amidst all this 'noise' its worth reflecting on something subtle but highly significant about this recent … [Read more...] about Trump, Brexit and physiotherapy
Collecting Qualitative Data: Beyond the face-to-face interview
This short course caught my eye the other day for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think interviews are vastly overused in qualitative research and have written about why they are problematic before (see refs), and secondly, because the excellent Virginia Braun from Auckland University is speaking. Could be worth a visit for those of you in the area. Collecting Qualitative Data: Beyond the face-to-face interview Thursday 3 November, 10am-5pm, Exhibition and Conference Centre (ECC), Frenchay Campus, UWE Bristol Is there more to qualitative data collection than (face-to-face) interviews? This seminar answers with a resounding yes, and introduces delegates to a range of exciting, often … [Read more...] about Collecting Qualitative Data: Beyond the face-to-face interview