moving stories and images
Agnes Wenham, a physiotherapist who trained in Sweden and England, was a well-known character in the profession, especially in Johannesburg, where she practised for many years. She moved to South Africa from the United Kingdom as a young woman and worked …
It is rare to find physiotherapists writing about their experiences (Nicholls, 2021), which makes Olive Millard’s (1952) autobiography Under My Thumb so important. A summary of Millard’s professional career is written by Goldstone (2024) and is further summarised here: Becoming …
Before the restoration of Ukraine’s Independence in 1991, rehabilitation occurred within the Soviet paradigm, which set itself in opposition to Western ideology – not out of rational consideration, but out of the need to be different. Some of the key …
On the 8th September 1951, delegates representing seventeen national physiotherapy associations met in Copenhagen, Denmark to establish the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT); now World Physiotherapy. Seventy-five years later it represents more than 600,000 physiotherapists through 129 member organisations, …
The health workforce is hierarchical and movement across professions is almost always upwards as individuals seek higher reward, recompense and status. Only rarely is there is movement downward. This story tells of a unique occurrence …
Physiotherapist Cora Wilding founded the Sunlight League in New Zealand, was instrumental in establishing the Youth Hostel Association and was one of the most passionate advocates for the physical culture movement. The Physical Culture Movement …
How current physical therapists became diagnosticians illuminates the trajectory of the profession and the value we offer. My recent exploration into this American story was recently published as an historical essay in Physical Therapy & …
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 …
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 …
In 1921, when the presence of men within the massage profession was still largely frowned upon, Matthew Guinan was the 77th masseur to be registered with the New Zealand Masseurs Registration Board. His registration was …
The following is from an article titled, The History of Physiotherapy in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Mirjana Dujmović and Jasmin Avdovićwritten; published in Fizioterapija Macedonica Journal. It was translated into English by Google Translate and …
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 …
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 …
The physical therapies of massage, exercise, heat/ice, electricity, light, etc., have existed for thousands of years across all civilisations, but it was not until the 20th century that physiotherapy emerged as a significant and unique …
