Physiospot - Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy in the Spotlight » Womens Health

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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Crucial role of physiotherapists highlighted in end of life care guide

Rachael Lowe — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:42:05 +0000

This ‘how to’ guide for end of life care builds upon the overarching framework set out in The route to success in end of life care – achieving quality in acute hospitals, published in 2010. The route to success highlighted best practice models developed by acute hospital Trusts, providing a comprehensive framework to enable hospitals to deliver high quality care to people at the end of life. This ‘how to’ guide aims to help clinicians, managers and directors implement ‘The route to success’ more effectively.

The guidelines have been produced by the National End of Life Care Programme (NEoLCP) in collaboration with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. This guide will only improve the way hospitals care for people nearing the end of life if frontline, practical professionals commit to it. Physiotherapists have a crucial role to play in supporting people in the last phase of life, they can make a real difference to improve end of life care.

Self assessment tool provide a meaningful measure of pelvic floor health in women.

Rachael Lowe — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:22:05 +0000

The Electronic Personal Assessment Questionnaire (ePAQ) is an interactive, web-based symptom and quality of life assessment system created at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals trust. It is being used in urogynaecology pelvic floor medicine, offering comprehensive patient self assessment of urinary, bowel, vaginal and sexual symptoms in the privacy of patients’ own homes. It is now routinely offered to women referred to the service before their consultation. The password secured information is used to generate a report providing scores in 19 clinical domains, including stress incontinence and sexual problems, to aid clinical interventions, including physiotherapy.

ePAQ® provides an interactive approach to the assessment of pelvic floor symptoms in women. It offers a reliable and intelligent software analysis from a set of user-friendly questions. The use of a personal computer ensures individuals are free to answer questions without embarrassment – the results from the questionnaire session does not show answers to questions, merely scores based on the information provided.

Creator Stephen Radley, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the trust, said: ‘The system substantially changes the way care is delivered by enhancing communication and understanding of intimate issues. ePAQ provides us with tremendous insight into patients’ conditions.’ This system could be a really useful adjunct to physiotherapists when making initial assessments as it highlights areas of particular concern for patients that would allow physiotherapists to target interventions most effectively.

Physio Dubai 2012 – 20/21 May – Dubai

Rachael Lowe — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:09:54 +0000

Following the great success of Physio Dubai 2010, the Emirates Physiotherapy Society is proud to announce the 4th Biennial Emirates Physiotherapy Conference, Physio Dubai 2012. The conference will focus on presenting the latest scientific knowledge in various aspects of physiotherapy practice related to movement dysfunction.

Conference objectives:

To contribute to the professional development of physiotherapists by bringing together experts to share their knowledge and research findings.
To provide an opportunity for local physiotherapists to expand collaborative networks for learning regionally and internationally.
To identify and describe current evidence – based practice in physiotherapy management.
To highlight the role of multidisciplinary approach in the physiotherapy practice.
To provide a forum for presenting and sharing knowledge and ideas at an academic, conceptual and clinical level.

Content:

The conference will be comprised of keynote lectures, free paper sessions, poster presentations, breakout clinical workshops and pre/ post conference courses. The official language of the conference is English.

Program Highlights:

New models of service delivery for stroke management
Physiotherapy for Men’s health
Update on international professional issues in physiotherapy
Physiotherapy management for the sporting shoulder, foot and ankle
Prevention and rehabilitation of hamstring injuries
Latest evidence in the practical application of clinical neurodynamics

Tutor: Emirates Physiotherapy Society

Date: 20-21 May 2012

Duration: 4 days program

Cost: conference & courses rate are on www.physiodubai.com

Venue: Emirates Towers hotel

Location: Dubai – UAE

Contact Name: MCI

Contact Phone: -

Contact Email: physiodubai2012@mci-group.com

Web Link to Course: www.physiodubai.com

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Worlds first 3D transplant mandible.

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:28:43 +0000

A 3D printer-created lower jaw has been fitted to an 83-year-old woman’s face in what doctors say is the first operation of its kind. A multidisciplinary team of engineers and clinicians led by The Functional Morphology Research Group at the University of Hasselt BIOMED Research Institute has created what they believe to be the very first complete 3D-printed lower jaw. Following an MRI scan of the patient’s own diseased mandible, the new mandible was created using laser printing of titanium powder to create a custom 3D implant. The implant is a little heavier than a natural lower jaw weighing in at approximately 107 grams. It was printed in a matter of hours before being sprayed with an artificial bone coating and finally being polished. The new jaw was made for an 83 year old woman who had her entire mandible removed in order to prevent the spread of osteomyelitis and retain an open airway and basic swallowing and chewing functions. The surgery, which took place in June of last year, lasted less than four hours and within one day of the operation the patient regained basic speech and swallowing functions.

CSP formally opposes UK health bill.

Rachael Lowe — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:22:14 +0000

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the UK has called for the government’s Health and Social Care Bill to be withdrawn. Chair of council Helena Johnson wrote to prime minister David Cameron and health secretary Andrew Lansley saying the government had failed to make the radical changes needed to the legislation and the bill should now be withdrawn. Final government amendments to the bill were announced at the end of January, with Mr Lansley saying the government had been ‘carefully listening’ to concerns, and the amendments would ‘address these remaining issues’. But CSP said the changes had failed to do this. The society has been a key voice in the opposition to the health bill, particularly over the plans for an increased role for private companies in the NHS.

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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