Tag: C20th

The Primary Contact Physiotherapist
In 1976 the Australian Journal of Physiotherapy published an article by Prue Galley titled ‘Patient referral and the physiotherapist’. This article was a synthesis of the debates and arguments about whether Australian physiotherapists were ready …

Interview with Patricia Grohne
Last week I spoke with Patricia Grohne about some of the work she has been doing with her colleagues to record and celebrate the history of physiotherapy in British Colombia, Canada. As well as this …
Remembering Brian Davey
We heard last week of the recent death of Brian Davey. I had the good fortune to interview Brian as part of the centenary celebrations for New Zealand physiotherapists in 2013, and it was only …
Interview with Joan McMeeken
Last week I spoke with Professor Joan McMeeken about her recent book Science in Our Hands: Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne, 1895–2010. Joan is the Foundation Professor and was Foundation Head of the School of …
A brief history of Brazil’s Federal Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy (English & Portuguese)
The aspiration in forming the Council was to create a federal entity that would act as ethical and social regulator of the profession, whose advent resulted from the work of the Brazilian Association of Physical …
Australia’s polio scourge
The recent movie Breathe, the inspirational true story of Robin Cavendish’s battle with paralytic poliomyelitis, is a reminder of a disease that is almost forgotten, except by those whose lives were and remain directly affected. …
How a yachtswoman revolutionised physiotherapy
Many of the earliest casualties from the First World War were large guardsmen with grievous wounds. For the short of stature like Mrs F Guthrie Smith – the masseuse in charge of a temporary command …
Ministering angels
One of the most interesting new areas of research in the history of physiotherapy surrounds the work done by masseuses during World War I. Some of the most studied artefacts from the time are the Bliss …
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 …