Category: Book
Asthma and Your Child
The book Asthma and Your Child was first published in 1963 by New Zealand respiratory physiotherapist Bernice “Bunny” Thompson. It focused on the need for well-targeted breathing and physical exercises in the management of children’s asthma. The book’s popularity continued through to subsequent editions, despite the introduction of metered dose …
Three recent books on the history of the physical therapies
In the history of physiotherapy, there’s been precious little work on the cultural history of the physical therapies themselves. But over the last few months, a few pieces of popular science writing have tackled subjects that are close to our hearts. Bill Hayes’ book Sweat: A history of exercise is …
The next big thing in physiotherapy history
We had another great biannual meeting of the whole IPHA membership yesterday. Thanks to everyone who took part. As well as reviewing the work of the group over the last six months – especially progress on our fabulous 100 Objects campaign – we talked about getting started on our next …
De Arte Gymanstica – The Art of Exercise Prescription
Although books dating back to ancient Chinese, Indian, Arabic, Greek and Roman civilisations contained numerous accounts of physical therapies (Galen reports that Roman emperor Julius Caesar used electric fish to treat neuralgia, for instance), De Arte Gymnastica may be the first book dedicated to the specific prescription of those physical …
Gym machines and gynaecological massage
Many of you will know of the pioneering work of Anders Ottosson, whose histories of mobilization, kinesiology and the gendered basis of physiotherapy history were some of the first critical scholarship to be published in the field. Well, Anders along with Michaela Malmberg have published two chapters in a …
French WWI Physiotherapy Images
In 1916, the Photographic Division of the Army in the French Ministry of War published collections of photographs documenting aspects of French involvement in World War I. The collections were grouped by theme and published in 20 separate instalments (fascicles), which in turn were published in two larger volumes. The …
Work
Physiotherapy is inextricably linked to work; to returning people back to productive labour or meaningful activities. As an important cog in the health services of many countries around the world, physical therapies have proven a powerful and effective way to rehabilitate people who have been ill and injured and maintain their …
New book: The Oxford Handbook of Disability History
The Oxford Handbook of Disability History (link) Michael Rembis, Catherine J. Kudlick, and Kim Nielsen, eds. Table of contents Part I. CONCEPTS AND QUESTIONS 1. The Perils and Promises of Disability Biography – Kim E. Nielsen 2. Disability History and Greco-Roman Antiquity – C.F. Goodey and M. Lynn Rose 3. Intellectual Disability …
Upstanding
Beth Linker’s work should be required reading for physiotherapists. Her latest project – a book titled Slouch: The Forgotten History of America’s Poor Posture Epidemic (due for publication in 2020) traces the history of America’s fascination with posture and how upright standing came to mean so much to health reformers, including physical …