Advancing an environmentally responsible physiotherapy

 

The world faces complex and interrelated crises… Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, rapid urbanization, geopolitical conflict and militarization, demographic change, population displacement, poverty, and widespread inequity create risks of future crises even more severe than those experienced today. Responses require investments that integrate planetary, societal, community and individual health and well-being (WHO 2021 Geneva Charter for Wellbeing)

 

 The impact of human activities on our planet’s natural systems has been intensifying rapidly in the past several decades, leading to disruption and transformation of most natural systems. These disruptions in the atmosphere, oceans, and across the terrestrial land surface are not only driving species to extinction, they pose serious threats to human health and wellbeing. Characterising and addressing these threats requires a paradigm shift (Myers, 2017)

Action at the level of direct drivers of nature decline, although necessary, is not sufficient … a sustainable global future’ is ‘only possible with urgent transformative change that tackles the root causes: the interconnected economic, socio-cultural, demographic, political, institutional, and technological indirect drivers behind the direct drivers (Diaz et al., 2019)

About

An international community of academics, clinicians, practitioners and students interested in exploring and advancing the field of environmental physiotherapy. 

Blog

Follow our latest musings on environmental physiotherapy. Ideas, inspiration, news, publications, events, and more. 

Join

Become part of the first international community of physiotherapists with an interest in researching, developing, and practising physiotherapy at a planetary scale. 

Resources

A growing selection of resources carefully selected by members of the EPA to inspire your thinking and practice of environmental physiotherapy. 

The inexorable March: Climate Change, Disability, and a Growing Urgency

There used to be a runway made of ice. Every winter, when the wild Bering Sea solidified between the tiny village of Little Diomede and the military outpost at nearby Big Diomede, the United States and Russia was temporarily connected by a thick, two-mile stretch....

Sustainability in orthopaedic physiotherapy and rehabilitation

With the goal of decarbonization and carbon neutrality in the health sectors of many countries by 2050, health professionals must implement systemic changes in clinical practice to reduce carbon use, whilst meeting equity targets and improving health outcomes. Methods...

Cuerpo, territorio y medio ambiente: hacia una kinesiología conectada con la salud mental e inmersa en naturaleza y los derechos humanos

Hay preguntas que no se responden en el aula ni en un congreso académico. Surgen, más bien, en el silencio del camino, en el dolor que persiste en el cuerpo de las personas y es compartido en los procesos terapéuticos, o en el temblor de una emoción al contemplar un...

Rethinking geography as a barrier to rural health outcomes

One of the magical things about living in a rural place is our geography. We love where we live and have the privilege of being close to nature most of the time. I am really lucky to live in the beautiful coastal town of Port Macquarie, Australia. We are known for our...

If you have any thoughts, ideas or questions about environmental physiotherapy,
we would love to hear from you anytime

5 + 1 =