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. 

How Green Is Physiotherapy? Lessons from a First Environmental Assessment

A few years ago, I shared here my decision to pursue a master’s degree in environmental sciences (Boiko, 2021). Today I’m excited to give an important update: my master’s thesis was recently published in a peer-reviewed journal, presenting what appears to be the first...

A reflection on physiotherapists role in the One Health Model

I was attending a forum a few weeks ago when the “One Health” model became the topic of discussion. The One Health Model became popular in the SARS era of 2003-2004 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024a). This model has been circulating since the 1800s...

Nature as co-therapist: Physiosail and the connection between disability and environment

The definition of disability and disabled people depends on the model used. The most widely used model in the health system is the "medical model". It assumes disability as an individual mental or physical impairment that is independent of environmental conditions. In...

Books that have guided my transformative change towards planetary justice

I recently chatted with a colleague about books that have changed our lives (1). It was literally a 2-minute conversation, but the idea of the impact of books still lingers in my mind. Counterintuitively, the readings that have had the most positive impact on my...

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

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