I've spent a lot of time this year doing the background work for the book that will follow The End of Physiotherapy (available now in paperback from all good book sellers, and an ideal Christmas present). On the advice of a friend of mine, who is a prolific author, I try to write books, book chapters, and articles in one go. What I mean is that all of the arguments are corralled first, along with the data, references, texts and quotes, and then when I've ironed out what my arguments will be, I write the whole thing in one go once. This is quite different to a collaborative writing project, which is much more iterative, but it helps to reduce the seemingly endless re-writing … [Read more...] about Common problems
PhD Studentship in Ageing with Long-Term Chronic Disabling Conditions; University of York, UK
Apart from this looking like a great subject for a supported PhD, it's being supervised by one of the best UK health sociologists. A great opportunity for someone. Karl Atkin and Sarah Nettleton in the Department of Health Sciences and the Department of Sociology, University of York, invite graduates to apply for a funded PhD Studentship in Ageing with Long-Term Chronic Disabling Conditions (UK/EU rates only). The PhD studentship, available on a full-time basis will start in January 2020. The successful candidate will be jointly supervised by Professor Karl Atkin (Department of Health Sciences) and Professor Sarah Nettleton (Department of Sociology). Project details The purpose … [Read more...] about PhD Studentship in Ageing with Long-Term Chronic Disabling Conditions; University of York, UK
Resources for Hazel Horobin’s session on Identity
Hazel Horobin presented the 6th Critical Physiotherapy Course session on 'Symbolic meanings in physiotherapy'. Here you can find links to Hazel's: … [Read more...] about Resources for Hazel Horobin’s session on Identity
Divorce rates among physiotherapists
This isn't the kind of material this blog usually deals with, but there's something fascinating in this recent report from Nathan Yau at flowingdata.com. The report looks at divorce statistics across different occupational groups and shows some interesting things about physical therapists in the United States. How much the findings can be extrapolated to other populations is debatable, but my sense is that there are some sociological principles at play here: perhaps about the linkage between one's profession, education and income and life fulfillment, that needs to be considered. The first set of data looks at divorce rates by occupation, and physical therapists come out with some of … [Read more...] about Divorce rates among physiotherapists
Desperate, angry, confused? Sociology can help
For the last two years I've been the academic leader of a team of psychologists and psychotherapists. Part of my reason for taking the role was to move away from physiotherapy for a while, and one of the things I've learnt is how much of what the 'pay' disciplines do should be a standard part of the physiotherapy curriculum and scope of practice. How on earth physiotherapists managed to survive for 100 years without exploring transference and counter-transference is beyond me. But one of the things that characterises many of the psy approaches to health and wellbeing is that they will look to the psyche and the mind for the answers to people's despair, anger and confusion. Today I … [Read more...] about Desperate, angry, confused? Sociology can help
Physiotherapy’s biopsycho (but not so much) social approach to future healthcare
One of the interesting aspects of the recent physiotherapy discussions on social media about the benefits of the biopsychosocial model is the almost complete lack of the 'social'. Those who advocate for the model seem comfortable with the idea that physiotherapy might be ready to embrace its psychological dimensions - although, often, the 'psychological' is lazily referred to as a singular entity - but little is said about the social dimensions of physiotherapy. Perhaps physiotherapists are not aware of the full scale of the social dimensions of practice? Many practitioners, for instance, still ignore the fact that the social determinants of health (poverty, education level, access to … [Read more...] about Physiotherapy’s biopsycho (but not so much) social approach to future healthcare
Against goal setting
There's an interesting piece by Amanda Ruggeri on the BBC Capital site on 20th November discussing the reasons why goal-setting might not be as useful as people think (link). The piece investigates 'why a focus on outcome alone can create a hamster-wheel mentality', and argues that goal-setting is often misunderstood and misapplied. According to the piece, the principle failings of many efforts at goal setting include: Getting "so emotionally attached to a goal that we’re setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment" Setting goals for things we should do, rather than our true ambitions Deciding on future priorities when you don't know your future 'you' Moving on to … [Read more...] about Against goal setting