The Executive Committee met on two occasions by Zoom teleconference in the second half of 2025. The current Executive Committee membership consists of
- Glenn Ruscoe, Chair (Australia)
- Sandra Schiller (Germany)
- Magda Fourie (South Africa)
- Cameron MacDonald (USA)
- Wajida Perveen (Pakistan)
- Snjezana Schuster (Croatia)
- Ximena Suárez Bonilla (Mexico/Spain)
- Esther-Mary D’Arcy (Ireland)
- Ken Miller (USA)
Nineteen articles exploring the history of the profession were published on our website during the second half of the year. As per our intention to give greater weight to articles about females, of five biographies, three were of women – Molly Levy of South Africa, Justina Wilson of the United Kingdom and Karolina Widerström of Sweden. We also published an article by historian Anders Ottosson titled ‘Her Story’, where he drew from his research on the history of the profession to celebrate how physiotherapy was linked with female emancipation. Seven other articles also had strong female stories to them.
One article during the period titled “Stolen Statue” told the story of the theft of the statue that marked the original location of the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics (RCIG) in Stockholm, Sweden. The IPHA wrote to the Stockholm City Council requesting its replacement given the importance of the RCIG to the history of the profession. We were advised that the statue was never stolen and was returned to its location in Spring 2024 once renovation works were complete. A Swedish-based member of the IPHA was able to confirm the statue’s location and provide photos. We have subsequently updated the article and apologised to the Swedish City Council. We also apologise to our members for providing incorrect information.
As per our work plan, the committee reviewed and updated the resource links on our website for books published on physiotherapy. Two new historical books from this year were added to the list and both were reviewed as articles. We also reviewed and updated the links to other health profession historical websites. Next year we will review and update the resource links to other physiotherapy history websites.
The committee began work on historical projects to celebrate the 75th anniversary of World Physiotherapy in 2026. The first project is a 75 question quiz about the history of the profession. We recommend you read the many articles on our website to ensure you do well with the questions. The second project explores the formation of the World Confederation of Physical Therapists. What was oft-portrayed to be a harmonious coming together of like-minded national professional associations in 1951 actually had some juicy drama around it; all in an environment of shifting global power and gender struggles. World Physiotherapy also sought a partnership with the IPHA on a third project, to be announced next year.
Our plans to explore the historical leadership of the profession in Latin America, to be timed with the next World Physiotherapy Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2027, has been narrowed to Mexico only due to our inability to raise interest from national physiotherapy associations in central and south America.
Finally, 2026 is also the 250th anniversary of the birthday of Pehr Henrik Ling, who has been described as the Father of Modern Physiotherapy. His birthday is later in the year and we hope to be celebrating it loud, wide and deep at that time.
