Category: Editorial
History of Physiotherapy in Croatia
The Balkan region, where Yugoslavia partly extended (Socialist Federal Republic from 1942 to 1992), comprised the republics at that time, which are now independent states: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. In this territory, the Association of Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists of Yugoslavia was established on …
Lest We Forget
At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we will remember them. The Armistice (Latin = “to stand arms still”) agreement to end the hostilities of the First World War at the beginning of peace negotiations, began at 11am on the 11th of November 1918. …
A Micro History of Physiotherapy in Italy
If we accept the etymology of physiotherapy as phìsis (natural) therapy, one of the oldest practice might seen in be the use of vapour grottoes in the territory of Sciacca (South of Italy) since the 5th century A.D. In Roman times, massage was a remedial practice carried out by fricatores …
Physical Therapy’s Oscar Winning Film
On the 75th anniversary of its production we look back at the profession’s 1949 Oscar winning film. ‘Toward Independence’ is a 1948 American short documentary film about the rehabilitation of military veterans with spinal cord injuries. In 1949, it won an Oscar for Documentary Short Subject at the 21st Academy …
The New Zealand Private Practice Boom
In the years before 1974, private physiotherapy practices were few and far between in New Zealand. Patients either paid the full cost of treatment themselves, or claimed against private insurance schemes which had highly unregulated fee structures and were unwilling to negotiate fees with physiotherapists locally or nationally. With the …
International Man of Action
A man, wearing dark glasses, sits front and centre of the audience of the inaugural meeting of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy, held on 8th September 1951 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He sits upright, leaning forward slightly, his arms resting lightly on his knees with his hands loosely curled, portraying …
Ancient Greek Healers and the Therapeutic Relationship
Impressions from a guided tour at the National Archeological Museum of Athens The tour was about the healers in Ancient Greece, their methods and tools they used for healing from pre-historical times until the end of the ancient world. At least that was my impression because at the end of …
Member Malaise in 1921
It is 102 years since the first editions of The P.T. Review were published. A periodical which would become the Journal of Physical Therapy, now PTJ. Taking the time to step back and immerse ourselves in the writings of those who led the formation of the professional association; that would …
The Greenlane Rocker Bed
The image of the Greenlane ‘rocker’ bed will be familiar to generations of physiotherapists who worked at Greenlane Hospital, in Auckland, New Zealand during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Originally much smaller, the rocker, or tipping bed, was designed by the parents of a girl with bronchiectasis who was being …
Queen Elizabeth II: Late Patron of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
This article reflects some of the key contributions of our late and much-loved Queen Elizabeth II, as Patron of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), as we look to the Coronation of King Charles III on 6th May 2023. There are many references in physiotherapy publications to Her Majesty …