World Physical Therapy Day

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Published: 8 Sep 2008
Author: Louise Hunt

Physiotherapists around the globe are being called upon to use their expertise to combat obesity, as part of World Physical Therapy Day on 8 September.

World Confederation for Physical Therapy president Marilyn Moffat (pictured) said physiotherapists have a ‘vital role to play in combating the worldwide obesity crisis’ by providing exercise prescriptions to prevent problems and provide treatment.

‘Physical therapists work with patients and clients to find the most appropriate types of aerobic conditioning/endurance training and resistance/strength training to reduce the ever increasing health care costs resulting from diseases of civilisation,’ she said.

For the first time the WCPT, of which the CSP was a founding member, has produced a toolkit to help physiotherapists raise awareness of the role their profession plays in public health.

The aid provides advice on planning and publicising activities aimed at tackling current public health issues, such as obesity, but can also be used for general areas of physiotherapy work.

Commenting on the WCPT president’s message, Ralph Hammond, CSP professional adviser and member of the Society’s Move for Health project team, said: ‘The CSP welcomes and supports the WCPT’s call, on World Physical Therapy Day 2008, for greater recognition of the valuable role that physiotherapists can make in combating the obesity crisis.’

He added that the call fitted well with the CSP’s own work on public health.

‘Movement and physical activity is at the heart of physiotherapy. It is for this reason that physical activity has been chosen as the key focus of the CSP’s five-year public health campaign, entitled ‘Move for Health', he said.

Move for Health aims to raise the profile of the contribution the physiotherapy profession makes towards enabling the health and wellbeing of society through physical activity and to re-brand physiotherapy (with all target audiences) in this light.