WORLD Physiotherapy Day falls on 8th September every year, and is an opportunity for physiotherapists from all over the world to raise awareness about the crucial role their profession plays in making and keeping people well, mobile and independent. The day was established in 1996, by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy – the profession’s global body representing over 300,000 physical therapists/physiotherapists in 101 countries.

ABOUT PHYSIOTHERAPY
Physical therapists (also known as physiotherapists) are experts in developing and maintaining people’s ability to move and function throughout their lives. With an advanced understanding of how the body moves and what keeps it from moving well, they promote wellness, mobility and independence. They treat and prevent many problems caused by pain, illness, disability and disease, sport and work related injuries, ageing and long periods of inactivity.
Physical therapists work with people affected by a wide range of conditions and symptoms, for example:
* painful conditions such as arthritis, repetitive strain injury, neck and back pain
* cancer
* strokes, Parkinson’s disease and spinal cord injury
* heart problems
* cystic fibrosis and cerebral palsy
* trauma, such as road traffic accidents and landmines
* incontinence
They work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, health centres, sports centres, education and research centres, hospices and nursing homes, rural and community settings.
Here are some examples of how physical therapists make a difference. They:
* use their skills to treat the underlying causes of pain and limitations in movement and function
* use many treatment approaches to help individuals regain their mobility and maximise their potential
* promote healthy lifestyles and exercise
* treat each patient/client as an individual and thoroughly assess them to identify their needs
* treat sports injuries and promote safe and healthy activities
* work with children with coordination, balance and other movement problems to improve and maximise their independence.
To achieve all this, physiotherapists are educated over several years, giving them a full knowledge of the body’s systems and the skills to treat a wide range of problems. This education is usually university-based and at a level that provides full professional recognition and allows them to practise independently. Continuing education ensures that they keep up to date with the latest advances in research and practice. Many physical therapists are engaged in research themselves.

Physiotherapy and non-communicable diseases
This September the United Nations will hold its first ever summit on non-communicable disease – only the second such meeting to focus on global disease. The summit, involving heads of state, is an official recognition that non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and cancer) are an increasing global health challenge.
They already claim 35 million lives a year – around 60 per cent of deaths.

For physical therapists, the official recognition that a global strategy is required to reduce this
burden of disability and deaths is highly significant. The profession of physiotherapy helps millions of people every year to prevent these conditions and their risk factors – most importantly obesity.

Physiotherapists specialise in human movement and physical activity, promoting health, fitness, and wellness; They maximise people’s movement potential.
So when the World Health Organization points out that physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for global mortality, causing 3.2 deaths annually, and that physical activity can reduce non-communicable diseases, it is clear that the profession has a major part to play. In any global actions that emerge from the UN Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases in New
York on 19th and 20th September, physical therapists must be central to plans and implementation.

Many people do not recognise the contribution physiotherapists make in keeping people
healthy and independent. This year on World Physiotherapy Day, WCPT is particularly
drawing attention to physical therapists’ role in reducing the risk of cancer, and helping people
recover from its effects. The World Health Organization has this year drawn attention to the role
of physical activity in reducing cancers – 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity can
reduce the risk of breast and colon cancers, according to WHO’s new Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health.

But the physical therapy contribution in cancer goes wider than that. Studies have also indicated a relationship between higher physical activity levels and lower mortality in cancer survivors. It has been proven that adults with chronic health problems can improve their health by learning how to exercise safely under the guidance and instruction of physical therapists. Activity has to be introduced carefully if a person is overweight, unfit, older, or has a chronic disease. Physical therapists do this by examining the person, recommending exercises that are safe and appropriate for them, and educating them about how to look for signs of trouble. This makes them the ideal professionals to prescribe exercise programmes for cancer.

Physiotherapy doesn’t just mean more healthy people, but more productive people who can contribute to countries’ economies. Their services are provided in an atmosphere of trust and respect for human dignity and underpinned by sound clinical reasoning and scientific evidence.
These are important messages that physiotherapists want to convey to the world every day, but especially on 8th September, World Physiotherapy Day. The message is clear: physiotherapists are the movement, physical activity, and exercise experts and a resource in the
battle against non-communicable disease that should never be overlooked.