In August 2019 the Environmental Physiotherapy Association was launched. In the last 5 years the Association has made huge progress in highlighting the links between the environment and human health, and the role of physiotherapy in protecting, improving and utilising the environment as part of our work as physiotherapists. In this post we celebrate the work of the Association.
The founding members of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association Executive Committee were David Nicolls, Karien Mostert, Jane Culpan, Palasha Sardesai, Issie Long and Marion Kennedy, led by Filip Maric. The Executive Committee first met in October 2019. The work of the founding members has been integral to the success of the Association. These members set the vision for the Association “to help physiotherapy contribute more meaningfully to planetary health and wellbeing”, with the 4E mission: “to envision, explore, enhance, and employ environmental physiotherapy”. While there is always more to do, the Association has made great strides towards promoting environmental physiotherapy and facilitating physiotherapists to engage with environmental concepts in their practice, advocacy, teaching and research.
Jessica Stanhope (PhD)
Lecturer in Physiotherapy, The University of Adelaide
Jess leads the Environmental Allied Health Group at The University of Adelaide., and is on the Executive Committee of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association.
Moving Earth
The Moving Earth blog has been a key contributor to the promotion of environmental physiotherapy. With over 120 blog posts from across the world, the blog has allowed members (and the broader public) to be exposed to a range of relevant concepts related to clinical practice, education, the design of spaces and research.
Collection of Research
We know from our research working with allied health professionals that aimited awareness of the research evidence is an important barrier to engaging in nature-based approaches. The Association has collated over 110 articles related to environmental physiotherapy and planetary health more broadly on the Research page. This is a valuable resource for clinicians, educators, students and researchers. If you are aware of any research outputs that are missing, please complete the form at the bottom of the Research page, and these outputs will be added.
Environmental Physiotherapy Agenda
Launched in February 2020, the Environmental Physiotherapy Agenda 2023 endeavored to have environmental physiotherapy introduced into entry-level physiotherapy programs internationally. We have had great success with over 700 signatories, over 90 participating institutions and over 40 supporting institutions. Representatives of the participating institutions meet quarterly, and have contributed over 30 inspirational case reports, while the Association has also collated over 35 education resources. We are now producing teaching prompts to assist educators in integrating environmental physiotherapy into their teaching.
In 2023 the decision was made to continue the Agenda, with the launch of the Environmental Physiotherapy Agenda 2027; an expanded venture which includes education qualified physiotherapists. One of the key resources to promote this are the growing number of courses hosted by Plus by Physiopedia. We currently have 9 courses, with over 1700 participants and excellent reviews
Supporting Clinical Practice
Supporting clinical practice has been at the core of what the Environmental Physiotherapy Association does. In addition to the resources described above, in collaboration with Health for Future we developed two practice posters ‘Why physiotherapy is good for you and the environment‘ and ‘How to make your physiotherapy clinic more environmentally sustainable‘. With the assistance of our members, these posters have been translated into nine languages to support physiotherapists globally. We have also recently launched the Practice page on the website, with information specifically targeting clinicians.
Environmental Physiotherapy Festival
In November 2023 we held the Environmental Physiotherapy Festival. There were over 60 face-to-face and online events including presentations, discussions, photography sessions, litter clean-ups, educators and student forums. The Festival sparked so many interesting discussions about various aspects of environmental physiotherapy, and supported networking, with educators, clinicians, students and researchers sharing their ideas and perspectives.
Student Assembly
One of the great outcomes of the Festival was the development of the Student Assembly, led by our student executive committee member Margit Nikoline Langballe. The Assembly provides a community for students and new graduates, with a growing number of people involved internationally.
Thank You
The Environmental Physiotherapy Association now has over 1000 members. We are very fortunate to have the support of so many fantastic people internationally. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the work of the Association, as well as the past and present Executive Committee members.
The Association would not exist nor have been so successful without the work of Filip Maric. Filip is an incredible leader and passionate advocate for environmental physiotherapy. He has worked tirelessly to build the Association, and to network physiotherapists and others interested in planetary health around the world
What’s next
We would like to provide members with opportunities to shape the future direction of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association. We are keen to hear from all members regarding what you’ve found valuable and how we can support you.
To share your thoughts please follow go to our survey. Thank you