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. 

L’Université de Sherbrooke cherche à donner l’exemple pour faire avancer la physiothérapie environnementale.

Le symposium des programmes d’ergothérapie et de physiothérapie (SAPEP) de l’Université de Sherbrooke a lieu chaque année au début de mai. Cet événement crée une opportunité pour l’École de réadaptation de réunir au campus des membres de l’école avec des personnes...

Gesundheitswandern – zurück in eine andere Physiotherapie

Um meine Doktorarbeit zu finanzieren, beschloss ich, wieder in meinem gelernten Beruf als Physiotherapeutin zu arbeiten. Ich freute mich darauf, wieder intensiver und direkt in Kontakt mit Menschen zu kommen. Jedoch spürte ich auch schnell und sehr deutlich, worauf...

The intersection of climate change, mind-body medicine, mental health, & physiotherapy

While the physiotherapy profession continues to grapple with how to address an entrenched split between mind and body in health care, we are facing an even larger challenge: a disconnect from the natural world. The concept of integrative health as applied to...

Climate change, biodiversity and sustainability discussed at the Australian national physiotherapy conference

Between the dates of the October 6-8 2023, Brisbane, Australia became home of the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s national conference, IGNITE 2023. I was fortunate enough to attend this conference and was excited and inspired by the keynote presentation titled,...

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