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 One Health case for veterinary physiotherapy

A recent Veterinary Record correspondence explores how veterinary physiotherapy can contribute to the One Health vision—advancing animal welfare while reducing the environmental footprint of care. From managing chronic conditions to supporting sustainable...

Seeing as Caring part one: Witness

My artwork is a product of intuition. I am unable to preconceive of an image and make art reliably. It has to come from a place I cannot speak to directly. It has to come in its own time. This facet of my work comes from somewhere different than the part of my brain I...

Shaping the future of physiotherapy: A blogpost by EPA student representatives Issie Long and Thies Bundtzen

Since the launch of the EPA physiotherapy students from around the world continue to join the association. Their enthusiasm for the subject field is evident in the comments, thoughts, concerns and energy they bring as they join, and, just like in the ongoing worldwide...

An evidence-based guide for decarbonizing physiotherapy clinics

Climate change is the largest threat to human health and wellbeing globally (WHO, 2021). The healthcare industry itself currently contributes to fuelling the climate crisis with its emissions and material consumption (Karliner et al., 2020). There has been much...

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