Eliza McAuley – Pioneering Educator
Eliza McAuley was born on 1866 in Upper Plenty, Australia – a rural area just north of Melbourne, Victoria. Her …
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Hijamat- the ancient therapy of cupping
While investigating data for our history project on the development of the profession of physiotherapy in the United Arab Emirates, I was reminded of the practice of cupping (hijamat) and have noted its continuing access as a physical therapy in this part of the world. Every year the Dubai Health …
The first ever Special Issue on the History of Physiotherapy now in print
Nearly three years ago now, we put out a call for people interested in compiling a special issue on the history of physiotherapy for the journal Physiotherapy Theory & Practice, and I’m delighted to say that the papers are now appearing online. There are seven full papers and one Editorial in …
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 …
Were Ancient Spas Precursors for Today’s Massage and Exercise?
Balnea was the name of the ancient spas that would offer any bath and body services such as massage. This characterized both Greek and Roman spas for a long time. In the imperial times, the Roman balnea changed their name into thermae and there worked different figures such as – …
Giving back to her country: Canadian-Jamaican physio collaboration
By Gillian Woodford, The McGill Reporter; submitted by Sarah C. Marshall (with permission) Three decades after graduating from McGill, Dorothy Thomas Edding helped found Jamaica’s first and only university-based School of Physical Therapy, allowing aspiring physiotherapists to study and work closer to home. Back in the late 1950s a bright …
The process of physiotherapy professionalisation in the UK – Development of autonomy, Part IV
A Watershed in Professional Independence in the UK – The McMillan Report NOTE: Readers may be interested to know that Mr E.L. McMillan (Chairman of the McMillan working Party, in whose name the Report was published) was a patient of the author during the period that the working party was …
Datas Importantes Para a Fisioterapia Brasileira
1951 a 1957 – Curso Raphael de Barros – Planejado pelo Dr. Waldo Rolim de Moraes, com o objetivo de formar “técnicos em fisioterapia”, funcionou nas instalações do Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo USP. 05 de agosto de 1954 – Fundação da Associação Brasileira Beneficente de Reabilitação …
The Physiotherapy that Time Forgot
In 2018 I experienced “physiotherapy” from many years ago; at the Igalo Spa in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. That’s not me in the photo above, just an indication of what is to come. To give some background about the Igalo Spa I’ve taken a few excerpts from their website at www.igalospa.com: …
Mobilising a workforce
On Friday this week (20thNovember 2020), the physiotherapy staff in the acute London NHS Trust where I work, along with other professional groups in the organisation, received a request asking for volunteers to administer Covid-19 vaccinations to the Trust’s workforce. Physiotherapists in the UK (along with other groups of healthcare …
The End of a Physiotherapy School
Abandoned architectural, infrastructural or technological artifacts of the past are scattered all around the world, reminding us that nothing built by (wo)man can ever stand the test of time on its own. The reasons behind the abandonment of such places vary, and for a long time in most cases they …