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. 

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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. 

Launching the environmental physiotherapy education inspiration-base

As I am writing this, the lands and people of this world are being ravaged by yet another war, adding, what feels like, crisis upon crisis upon crisis. The crisis in Syria is still ongoing. Last year, the IPCC issued its starkest warning about global warming yet....

¿Por qué la fisioterapia medioambiental? ¿Por qué la fisioterapia? ¿Por qué yo? (Parte II)

Decíamos anteriormente ¿Por qué yo? ¿Por qué tú? Tal vez debamos iniciar esta reflexión desprendiéndonos del nombre propio. Pero ya regresaremos a este punto. De momento, resulta más fácil referirnos al ámbito de lo abstracto, al término genérico, a lo que nos toca...

Refocusing Disablement Models about Context: Physiotherapy and the Ecological-Enactive Model of Disability

A complete, humanized description of disability requires consideration of context (e.g., physical environment, social interactions, background life), and the factors contributing to function and disability should be sought at the interface of an individual and their...

Fysiotherapie en vergroening: resonantie tussen gezondheid en ecologie

De klimaat- en biodiversiteitscrisis stelt ons als fysiotherapeuten niet alleen voor praktische vragen, maar ook voor fundamentele uitdagingen in hoe wij als fysiotherapeuten gezondheid, zorg en verantwoordelijkheid begrijpen en vormgeven. Deze uitdagingen brengen ons...

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