I had a lovely conversation with some colleagues from Tromsø University's School of Physiotherapy on Monday night after my keynote to the Norwegian Physiotherapists' Congress. Having talked about 'The End of Physiotherapy', they asked me a question I seem to be getting asked a lot now. "So" they said, "what's the answer ... what's the future for physiotherapy?" Now it's an absolutely foundational principle for me that it's not my place to tell people 'the answer' (as if there could ever be an answer). And that's partly because I subscribe to a Foucauldian approach to critical thinking that says you don't replace one bad hegemony (or dominant way of viewing the world) with another. But … [Read more...] about Leaving (physiotherapy) home
30 Days of September: Day 6
Today's image was suggested by Kerry Chamberlain. 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 6
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
Extended members
One of the things I like most about the CPN is that its doing some pretty big things (international collaborations, book projects, a WCPT Focused Symposium next year, etc.), but its still small enough so that you get to see what other people are doing. And some of the things other people are doing are incredible. Anna Rajala, for instance, has been a CPN member since the early days, and during that time has been writing and teaching about history of medicine, mental health, disability, and political and moral philosophy. She's done a masters degree in philosophy, politics and economics of health and her dissertation on Hegel’s dialectics of recognition and ethics in dementia was awarded … [Read more...] about Extended members
The cult of the hero
Having talked with people about my last blog entry (Exercising our demons, 16th May 2010), one of the most interesting conversations centred around physiotherapy’s fascination with its heros; the ‘big names’ in the profession that are made famous by their inventions and innovations. The last blog entry touched on this only briefly, and only in the sense that I expressed my dislike for the naked evangelizing of some of the speakers at our conference. But there is a bigger point here that deserves consideration, because - as a couple of my colleagues pointed out - physiotherapy really does suffer, at times, from the cult of the hero. … [Read more...] about The cult of the hero
The shrinking world of ideas
I'm doing a talk on Monday to my School on qualitative research, and my big theme is that qualitative research far too much qualitative research is saying far too little. Ideas, theory and philosophy are being squeezed out by an unhealthy concern for research methods. This point is made far more elegantly here which, if I'd had it when I was writing my talk, would have saved me a lot of time. http://chronicle.com/article/Neuroscience-Is-Ruining-the/150141/ … [Read more...] about The shrinking world of ideas
Research update – the body, disability, gym, theory, diagnosis and habitus
From the latest edition of Social Science and Medicine, Volume 120 , Pages 1-438, November 2014 The unfinished body: The medical and social reshaping of disabled young bodies Janice McLaughlin & Edmund Coleman-Fountain Medical interventions mark the disabled young body as in need of repair. Such interventions are incorporated into stories of embodied identity. Transitions to adulthood are influential to approaches to fixing the body. Ongoing intervention leaves the body always unfinished and open to remaking. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.012 No time for the gym? Housework and other non-labor market time use patterns are associated with meeting physical activity … [Read more...] about Research update – the body, disability, gym, theory, diagnosis and habitus