Physiospot - Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy in the Spotlight » Featured Articles

‘Lend A Hand’ at Physiopedia

Rachael Lowe — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:24:41 +0000

Volunteering for Physiopedia is an amazing graduate opportunity, improves employability and will contribute to your continuing education and professional development.

Physiopedia has set itself a very ambitious task of providing universal access to physiotherapy knowledge. We are building the largest physiotherapy and physical therapy specific resource available, and we need your help!

There is always so much to do to at Physiopedia and we always welcome offers to contribute. Help us to build this amazing resource that we hope it will become for our profession.

How will it benefit you?

Joining us on the team at Physiopedia is a great compliment to anyone’s daily work and also to your CV. From the experience you will gain new profession related knowledge and also advance your technical skills. This will contribute to your continuing education and professional development. As a volunteer at Physiopedia you can know, and feel good about the fact, that you have contributed to our global profession by playing an important role in building this professional resource.

Current volunteer positions available

Article Editors – this involves editing existing articles to bring them up to a specified formatting standard. It will involve evaluating pages that have already been written and potentially editing small aspects to bring them up to ‘Article’ standard.
Media Managers - reviewing pages within Physiopedia for media content and adding video/images where appropriate.
Bloggers - writing journalistic pieces for Physiopedia to be published on Physiospot. If you choose you can focus on your particular area of interest such as a clinical area, current affairs, technology education etc.
Fundraising Team - seeking appropriate funding sources such as grants.
Social Media Team - updates to social media sites including twitter, facebook, linkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest.
Content Developers – we are always looking for people to build content on the site. If you would like some guided direction in doing this, this might be the position for you.

Graduate opportunities

Have you just graduated and are looking for your first physiotherapy or physical therapy job? Are you still studying but are looking in increase your employability? Well volunteering at Physiopedia can help you! How…..

Profile page - once you have a Physiopedia editing account you will have your own profile page on the site. Here you can add your CV, your previous and other related experience and offer a place for potential employers to read about you.
Add to your CV - volunteering at Physiopedia is a great experience to add to your CV. Employers have told us that this is just the kind of experience that they like to see in potential candidates to employ.
Reference - following a successful voluntary position we will be happy to provide you with references for your current and potential employers.
CE/CPD - volunteering at Physiopedia will contrinute to your continuing education and professional development.

How do I become a volunteer?

Get in touch!! If you are interested in any of the above voluntary positions or have an idea for a voluntary position that we haven’t thought of simply email Rachael to express your interest. Once Rachael has received an email from you she will get back in touch to work with you to come to an agreement on the voluntary tasks that you will do in the time that you have available. Then away you go! Rachael will provide you with all the instructions and support that you need.

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Excitement Grows for Next International Meeting of Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists in Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedic Care, Manual Therapy and Private Practice.

Rachael Lowe — Mon, 21 May 2012 07:16:39 +0000

The International Private Practice Association (IPPA) has partnered with the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) for the upcoming 2012 Conference to be held in Quebec City, Canada from September 30^th to October 5^th, 2012. Don’t miss out, get your early bird ticket before June 4th!

This World Congress of Manual/Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy is held only once every 4 years and will be the next international gathering of physiotherapists and physical therapists in 2012. IFOMPT is the largest recognized sub-group of the World Confederation of Physical Therapists (WCPT) and after the huge success of World Physical Therapy in Amsterdam last year this will be your next opportunity to join a large international gathering from the physiotherapy and physical therapy profession. Keynote speakers including David Butler, Gray Cook, Gwendolen Jull, Karim Khan, Prof. Peter O’Sullivan, Annelies Pool, Shirley A. Sahrmann, Joy MacDermid, and Dr Stuart Gowland will join invited speakers and symposium presenters in a packed program that brings you the very latest in research and clinical practice. In addition to this, the conference itself is sandwiched between a plethora of courses from renowned international teachers including David Butler, Dianne Lee, Duncan Reid, Peter O’Sullivan and many more.

The IFOMPT Conference this year is being hosted in Québec City, Eastern Canada. Condé Nast Traveler readers have listed Québec City amongst the top 10 favorite tourist destinations around the world and first in Canada! European flavour, cobblestone streets, sidewalk cafés, museums and several other attractions are among the treasures waiting for you to discover in beautiful Québec City. Declared as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1985, Québec City is the only city in North America to have preserved its original fortifications. The province of Québec’s capital is known to be one of the safest urban districts of the world ans is a bilingual (French/English) destination.

Registration for this conference is now open. To get your early bird ticket make sure you register before June 4th! Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to meet colleagues from all over the world who share your interests and enthusiasm for our profession. We look forward to seeing you there!

Mediterranea creates new physiotherapy service in Ghana.

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:19:17 +0000

Today a meeting was held in the UIB (Balearic Islands University) with the team running the UIB-At the beginning of May Alicia Moratiel, Physiotherapist and Member of Mediterranea, a humanitarian aid NGO based in Mallorca, opened her email and saw the following communication from the College of Physiotherapists in the Baleares: ‘The NGO Mediterranea is developing a project in Ghana. Part of this project is to start a physiotherapy dept in a small hospital in the East of the country just where the Volta enters the sea. We need volunteers to help get things started and train the future local team.’ Alicia immediately started to gather more information. She discovered that the hospital Dangme East in Ada Foah was organised by one doctor, Dr Philip Narth, who works 24 hours a day all days of the year and has 30 nurses for a population of 186000. The ratio of nurses per inhabitant in Spain is 531 per 100000 and of doctors 445 per 100000. In this region of Africa there is 1 for 186000! It seemed to her to be completely disproportionate. At the level of physiotherapy it seemed clear, a hospital that cares for a high percentage of cardiovascular and traffic accidents needs to have physiotherapy. Also to rehabilitate post traumatic injuries, to assist the recovery of patients who have been operated, to reduce recovery time, to assist in the regeneration of epithelial tissue, burns, ulcers…these and others are the functions that Alicia thought they could develop. Alicia also discovered that Mediterranea had fulfilled a number of other projects at the hospital, including setting up a laboratory for the hospital and building a residence for mothers visiting the hospital with their children. She was also surprised and happy to read in the Mediterranea blog that, thanks to the generosity of some British members, the physiotherapy project already had a substantial amount of equipment in Ghana waiting to be used.

From that point onwards things moved quickly. At the end of May at the first meeting volunteers were able to learn more about Mediterranea, it’s ideas and philosophy, see some photos of the hospital and region, they covered some logistic themes like vaccines and first aid and learnt about all the documentation that was needed. At the meeting they organised an administrative nucleus of physios to coordinate the physiotherapy side of the project. They followed this meeting with another some days later and had a number of lecturers from the UIB (University of Baleares) attend. They established minimum and maximum stays for the volunteers in Ghana and agreed to group together the trips of volunteers to minimise the disruption to Dr Narth’s team in Ghana since the airport is 200+ km from the hospital. They also allocated the different tasks amongst themselves. As Alicia was not able to attend the first meeting and as someone completely new to this type of project she was hypnotised by the energy and enthusiasm of the other physios at this meeting and their desire to develop our profession into regions where it’s needed. She also appreciated the big effort that would be required to coordinate the trips and handovers of not only our Spanish physios but also British physios who had responded with enthusiasm to a small communication from Mediterranea distributed through the Institute of Physiotherapists in the UK.

A couple of weeks later a third meeting was held to clarify some details and to go deeper into the second part of the project which is the training that will be provided to the locals in Ghana. The first part of the project is immediate. To get the physiotherapy dept up and running and they shall achieve this by maintaining a flow of volunteers to the hospital. The second part will be a little more complex and will involve some communication between the University of Ghana’s physiotherapy dept based in Accra and the UIB, in order to launch an official training course for physios in that part of the country.

Last year Mediterranea officially launched the Physiotherapy Dept in Dangme East Hospital, Ghana.

Since July last year the UIB and the team running the UIB-Mediterranea NGO Physiotherapy program have sent 7 Physiotherapists to the Dangme East hospital in Ada Ghana where they have treated people and where they have introduced physiotherapy as yet another service the hospital can offer to the population it looks after. In the near future a team of 3 or 4 staff from the university will travel to Ghana to put in to effect a training program in conjunction with the Physiotherapy faculty in Accra.

Physiopedia is proud to acknowledge the efforts of the people involved in this project. It is a great example of what a few people and small partnerships can achieve to selflessly help those in need, spreading physiotherapy knowledge around the world to improve global health.

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Online physiotherapy glossary from the WCPT

Rachael Lowe — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:23:07 +0000

Supporting the Confederation’s policies and guidelines, the WCPT has launched an online glossary. It has been developed for the profession to aid international interpretation and promote a global consistency in terminology. Citing the importance of having an international glossary WCPT’s President, Marilyn Moffat, says “WCPT’s glossary is the first A-Z covering professional and educational issues, rather than practice interventions. To support the development and implementation of WCPT’s policies and guidelines a clear understanding of terminology internationally is important and this glossary is designed to facilitate that and promote consistency. We’re hopeful that this will be a valuable resource for the profession and one that will continue to grow over time”. With over 170 fully referenced terms the glossary is a significant tool for WCPT’s member organisations, regions, subgroups and individual physical therapists. WCPT is encouraging the wide use of these international terms. The glossary may be accessed as:

An annual review of this glossary will take place. Member organisations, regions and subgroups can suggest amendments and terms for inclusion in the glossary where they are internationally applicable. Please send suggestions and comments to info@wcpt.org.

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Recent Advances in the Rehabilitation of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries

Rachael Lowe — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:38:57 +0000

This excellent clinical commentary provides a thorough scientific basis for anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation based on graft selection, patient population, and concomitant injuries. Rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament surgery continues to change, with the current emphasis being on immediate weight bearing and range of motion, and progressive muscular strengthening, proprioception, dynamic stability, and neuromuscular control drills. The rehabilitation program should be based on scientific and clinical research and focus on specific drills and exercises designed to return the patient to the desired functional goals. The goal is to return the patient’s knee to homeostasis and the patient to his or her sport or activity as safely as possible. Unique rehabilitation techniques and special considerations for the female athlete are also discussed.

Kevin E. Wilk, Leonard C. Macrina, E. Lyle Cain, Jeffrey R. Dugas, James R. Andrews. Recent Advances in the Rehabilitation of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2012;42(3):153-171.

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WCPT launches online presentations from World Physical Therapy 2011.

Rachael Lowe — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:06:25 +0000

WCPT is launching a new online resource for physical therapists from its congress, World Physical Therapy 2011. For the first time, WCPT is offering recordings of some of the most popular focused symposia and discussion panels via the WCPT website. The new materials include video and audio recordings with accompanying PowerPoint presentations. As well as providing an opportunity for those who couldn’t attend the sessions to share in the information and opinion provided, the material is also designed to be of use as a valuable teaching and learning resource. As part of WCPT’s commitment to facilitate information exchange across the profession, they are offered free of charge.

In all, there are 12 recordings available, four providing a complete video recording of selected congress discussion panels on the subjects of:

re-building in conflict and disaster zones
promoting health and preventing disability
physical therapists influencing health policy and service provision
health human resources

There are also eight audio recordings of congress focused symposia with accompanying PowerPoint presentations. Subjects covered include teaching about pain, global physical activity transitions, trends in cardiac rehabilitation, leadership in HIV, evidence based practice, moral action, spinal manipulation and stroke rehabilitation. The new resources add to the existing abstracts, posters and PowerPoint slides of congress presentations already available on the congress section of the WCPT website.

See the presentations…

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New guidelines for CRPS management

Rachael Lowe — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:46:45 +0000

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a debilitating, painful condition in a limb associated with sensory, motor, autonomic, skin and bone abnormalities. Pain is typically the leading symptom, but is often associated with limb dysfunction and psychological distress. Prompt diagnosis and early treatment is required to avoid secondary physical problems related to disuse of the affected limb and the psychological consequences of living with undiagnosed chronic pain. UK guidelines have recently been developed for diagnosis and management in the context of primary and secondary care. The purpose of this concise guideline is to draw attention to these guidelines. Information in this article has been extracted from the main document and adapted to inform the management of CRPS as it presents to physicians in the course of their daily practice.

Turner-Stokes, Lynne., Goebel, Andreas. Complex regional pain syndrome in adults: concise guidance. Clinical Medicine 2011: 11; 596-600

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Physical therapists at the heart of the global battle against cancer

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:33:10 +0000

This September the United Nations will hold its first ever summit on non-communicable disease - only the second such meeting to focus on global disease. The summit, involving heads of state, is an official recognition that non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and cancer) are an increasing global health challenge. They already claim 35 million lives a year – around 60 per cent of deaths. For physical therapists, the official recognition that a global strategy is required to reduce this burden of disability and deaths is highly significant. The profession of physical therapy, known in some countries as physiotherapy, helps millions of people every year to prevent these conditions and their risk factors – most importantly obesity. They also manage their effects, along with the effects of aging, illness, accidents, and the stresses and strains of life. Physical therapists specialise in human movement and physical activity, promoting health, fitness, and wellness. They identify physical impairments, limitations, and disabilities that prevent people from being as active and independent as they might be, and then they find ways of overcoming them. They maximise people’s movement potential. So when the World Health Organization points out that physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality, causing 3.2 deaths annually, and that physical activity can reduce non-communicable diseases, it is clear that the profession has a major part to play. In any global actions that emerge from the UN Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases in New York on 19th and 20th September, physical therapists must be central to plans and implementation. That is why World Physical Therapy Day, held every year on 8th September, is particularly important this year. It is a day when physical therapists can publicise their work, educate the public and policy makers about what they do, and try and ensure that the public benefit from their skills. Many people do not recognise the contribution physical therapists make in keeping people healthy and independent. This year on World Physical Therapy Day, WCPT is particularly drawing attention to physical therapists’ role in reducing the risk of cancer, and helping people recover from its effects. The World Health Organization has this year drawn attention to the role of physical activity in reducing cancers – 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity can reduce the risk of breast and colon cancers, according to WHO’s new Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health. But the physical therapy contribution in cancer goes wider than that. Studies have also indicated a relationship between higher physical activity levels and lower mortality in cancer survivors. One recent meta-analysis reported that, post-diagnosis, physical activity reduced breast cancer deaths by 34% and disease recurrence by 24% (Ibrahim EM, Al-Homaidh A. Physical activity and survival after breast cancer diagnosis: meta-analysis of published studies. Med Oncol. 2010 Apr 22). Another meta-analysis found that exercise brings people with breast cancer improved peak oxygen consumption and reduced fatigue (McNeely ML, Campbell KL et al. Effects of exercise on breast cancer patients and survivors: a systematic review and metaanalysis. CMAJ. 2006 Jul 4;175(1) 34-41). I conduct workshops around the world, demonstrating how adults with chronic health problems can improve their health by learning how to exercise safely under the guidance and instruction of physical therapists. Activity has to be introduced carefully if a person is overweight, unfit, older, or has a chronic disease. Physical therapists do this by examining the person, recommending exercises that are safe and appropriate for them, and educating them about how to look for signs of trouble. This makes them the ideal professionals to prescribe exercise programmes for cancer. According to the World Health Organisation, cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008. Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue to rise to over 11 million in 2030, yet more than 30% of cancer deaths can be prevented. Physical therapy doesn’t just mean more healthy people, but more productive people who can contribute to countries’ economies. Their services are provided in an atmosphere of trust and respect for human dignity and underpinned by sound clinical reasoning and scientific evidence. These are important messages that physical therapists want to convey to the world every day, but especially on 8th September, World Physical Therapy Day. The message is clear: physical therapists are the movement, physical activity, and exercise experts and a resource in the battle against non-communicable disease that should never be overlooked.

Written by Marilyn Moffat, President of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy

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Physical Therapy Reviews Special Issue: Accupuncture

Rachael Lowe — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:50:19 +0000

This special issue of Physical Therapy Reviews brings together articles predominantly on acupuncture but with a flavour of complementary medicine as a whole. The presented papers range from a clinical case study to a systematic review of the literature and encompass material on the education of physiotherapists in the use of acupuncture as a treatment modality, the biopsychosocial model of treatment and adverse events.

In the free article that the issue includes, Acupuncture: moving from mysticism to evidence based practice, Daniel Kerr states that “The last few years have seen an increased acceptance of acupuncture in mainstream clinical practice with the National Institute of Clinical Excellence recommending its use in the treatment of persistent non-specific low back pain. Similarly the use of acupuncture has been advocated as a treatment modality in the management of chronic low back pain by the American Pain Society. This increasing acceptance, however, does not negate the need for future research in this area but is encouragement for researchers to continue to investigate the benefits of acupuncture.”

The practice of acupuncture in physiotherapy is one that appears to be continuing. Given the growth and development of the practice it is important that the practice of acupuncture and other CAM interventions continue to be supported by robust research activity in its many forms.

Read the free article here

See the Table of contents for this issue here

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Full access to journals available from Sheffield Hallam University with their CPD Anywhere opportunity

Rachael Lowe — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:59:59 +0000

If your looking for a way to gain full access to many of the physiotherapy related journals then look no further! CPD Anywhere from Sheffield Hallam University in the UK provides you with just that, and much more!

It is important these days is to keep up to date with new evidence and continue professionally developing and indeed many registration bodies require that we evidence our learning for continued registration. For many practitioners time constraints and lack of funding can make it difficult to honour these requirements. So what is the answer? Sheffield Hallam University in the UK have come up with a novel and innovative way to keep on learning, keep up to date with new evidence and keep a record of professional development. CPD Anywhere is an online opportunity that opens up learning resources, library access and use of a CPD portfolio. This online learning opportunity is open to anyone anywhere!

CPD Anywhere is a dedicated virtual learning environment (VLE) providing interactive information, resource and support, together with an e-portfolio platform called PebblePAD, which is both intuitive and simple to use.

Learning resources developed at the University are made available for users to view.
PebblePAD, an e-portfolio system, can be used to document and record your learning and evidence of CPD, in a form and format to suit you.
Library access is included making all the SHU library materials available to view online, including all the major journals.
Included is the option to undertake a dedicated module ‘Evidencing your CPD’ which will allow you to gain Masters level credits for this activity and produce a profile or portfolio of evidence as required in your area of practice.

The included library access is a great opportunity for people who don’t otherwise have access to journals to have cheap access to new research evidence. This is of particular to those in independent or private practice and those in less resourced countries.

To enroll, you pay a one off fee of £99 for 12 months unlimited access to CPD VLE and PebblePAD. This enables you to access, view, download and utilise materials and resources from the site, for updating, refreshing your knowledge, or to help evidence your learning and development for CPD, at a time and pace to suit you. At the end of 12 months, you have the option of renewing your registration.

Watch a video demonstration of the VLE

To apply for this dimension please download the short couse application form (PDF 53KB), complete and return to n.snowdon@shu.ac.uk

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