What is physical therapy

Physical therapists have different titles in different countries: in many countries they are called physiotherapists. Some countries have their own version of the word physical therapist, such as kinesiologist. They are all part of the same profession.

Physical therapists provide services that develop, maintain and restore people’s maximum movement and functional ability. They can help people at any stage of life, when movement and function are threatened by ageing, injury, diseases, disorders, conditions or environmental factors.

Physical therapists help people maximise their quality of life, looking at physical, psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. They work in the health spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, habilitation and rehabilitation.

The World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) advocates that the profession of physical therapy is responsible for articulating the profession’s scope of practice and defining the roles of physical therapists. At a national level, national physical therapy associations are responsible for defining physical therapy and physical therapists’ roles relevant to their nation’s health service delivery needs, ensuring that they are consistent with accepted international guidelines set out by WCPT. National physical therapy associations have a responsibility to seek support for legislation/regulation/recognition which defines the distinctive and autonomous nature of physical therapy practice, including a defined scope of practice.

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The scope of physical therapy practice is dynamic and responsive to patient/client and societal health needs. With the development of knowledge and technological advances, periodic review is required to ensure that scope of practice reflects the latest evidence base and continues to be consistent with current health needs. Research is continually providing new evidence upon which future practice will be built. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our understanding of human movement, which is central to the skills and knowledge of the physical therapist.
 

What is physical therapy?

Physical therapy provides services to individuals and populations to develop, maintain and restore maximum movement and functional ability throughout the lifespan. This includes providing services in circumstances where movement and function are threatened by ageing, injury, pain, diseases, disorders, conditions or environmental factors.  Functional movement is central to what it means to be healthy.

Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximising quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, habilitation and rehabilitation. This encompasses physical, psychological, emotional, and social wellbeing.Physical therapy involves the interaction between the physical therapist, patients/clients, other health professionals, families, care givers and communities in a process where movement potential is assessed and goals are agreed upon, using knowledge and skills unique to physical therapists

Physical therapists are qualified and professionally required to:

1. undertake a comprehensive examination/assessment of the patient/client or needs of a client group
2. evaluate the findings from the examination/assessment to make clinical judgments regarding patients/clients
3. formulate a diagnosis, prognosis and plan
4. provide consultation within their expertise and determine when patients/clients need to be referred to another healthcare professional
5. implement a physical therapist intervention/treatment programme
6. determine the outcomes of any interventions/treatments
7. make recommendations for self-management

The physical therapist’s extensive knowledge of the body and its movement needs and potential is central todetermining strategies for diagnosis and intervention.  The practice settings will vary according to whether the physical therapy is concerned with health promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, habilitation or rehabilitation.

The scope of physical therapy practice is not limited to direct patient/client care, but also includes:

1. public health strategies
2. advocating for patients/clients and for health
3. supervising and delegating to others
4. leading
5. managing
6. teaching
7. research
8. developing and implementing health policy, locally, nationally and internationally

Physical therapists operate as independent practitioners,[Note] as well as members of health service provider teams, and are subject to the ethical principles of WCPT. They are able to act as first contact practitioners, and patients/clients may seek direct services without referral from another health care professional.

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The education and clinical practice of physical therapists will vary according to the social, economic, cultural and political contexts in which they practice. However, it is a single profession, and the first professional qualification, obtained in any country, represents the completion of a curriculum that qualifies the physical therapist to use the professional title and to practise as an independentprofessional.

Where is physical therapy practised?

Physical therapy is an essential part of the health and community/welfare services delivery systems.  Physical therapists practise independently of other health care/service providers and also within interdisciplinary rehabilitation/habilitation programmes that aim to prevent movement disorders or maintain/restore optimal function and quality of life in individuals with movement disorders. Physical therapists practise in a wide variety of settings

Physical therapists are guided by their own code of ethical principles. Thus, they may have any of the following purposes:

1. promoting the health and wellbeing of individuals and the general public/society, emphasising the importance of physical activity and exercise
2. preventing impairments, activity limitations, participatory restrictions and disabilities in individuals at risk of altered movement behaviours due to health factors, socio-economic stressors, environmental factors and lifestyle factors
3. providing interventions/treatment to restore integrity of body systems essential to movement, maximise function and recuperation, minimise incapacity, and enhance the quality of life, independent living and workability in individuals and groups of individuals with altered movement behaviours resulting from impairments, activity limitations, participatory restrictions and disabilities
4. modifying environmental, home and work access and barriers to ensure full participation in one’s normal and expected societal roles

What characterises physical therapy?

The following assumptions are embedded in this description and reflect the central concerns of physical therapy.

1. Movement is an essential element of health and wellbeing and is dependent upon the integrated, co-ordinated function of the human body at a number of levels. Movement is purposeful and is affected by internal and external factors. Physical therapy is directed towards the movement needs and potential of individuals and populations.
2. Individuals have the capacity to change as a result of their responses to physical, psychological, social and environmental factors. Body, mind and spirit contribute to individuals’ views of themselves and enable them to develop an awareness of their own movement needs and goals. Ethical principles require the physical therapist to recognise the autonomy of the patient/client or legal guardian in seeking his or her services.
3. Physical therapists may direct their interventions to specific populations. Populations may be nations, states and territories, regions, minority groups or other specified groups (eg screening programmes for scoliosis among school children and falls prevention programmes for the aging).
4. An integral part of physical therapy is interaction between the physical therapist and the patient/client/family or caregiver to develop a mutual understanding. This kind of interaction is necessary to change positively the body awareness and movement behaviours that may promote health and wellbeing. Members of inter-disciplinary teams also need to interact with each other and with patients/clients/family and caregivers to determine needs and formulate goals for physical therapy intervention/treatment. Physical therapists also interact with administration and governance structures to inform, develop and/or implement appropriate health policies and strategies.
5. Professionally autonomous practitioners are prepared through professional entry-level physical therapy education.[6] Physical therapists exercise their professional judgement to reach a diagnosis that will direct their physical therapy interventions/treatment, habilitation and rehabilitation of patients/clients/populations.
6. Diagnosis in physical therapy is the result of a process of clinical reasoning that results in the identification of existing or potential impairments, activity limitations, participation restrictions, environmental influences or abilities/disabilities.  The purpose of the diagnosis is to guide physical therapists in determining the prognosis and most appropriate intervention/treatment strategies for patients/clients and in sharing information with them. In carrying out the diagnostic process, physical therapists may need to obtain additional information from other professionals. If the diagnostic process reveals findings that are not within the scope of the physical therapist’s knowledge, experience or expertise, the physical therapist will refer the patient/client to another appropriate practitioner.

Principles supporting the description of physical therapy

WCPT has developed this international description of physical therapy based on the following principles, which it encourages its member organisations to use in defining the scope of physical therapy practice nationally.

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WCPT advocates that a description must:

1. respect and recognise the history and roots of the profession
2. build on the reality of contemporary practice and the growing body of research
3. allow for variation in: cultures, values and beliefs; health needs of people and societies; the structure of health systems around the world
4. use terminology that is widely understood and adequately defined
5. recognise internationally accepted models and definitions (eg World Health Organization definition of health, World Health Organisation International Classification of Function)
6. provide for the ongoing growth and development of the profession and for the identification of the unique contribution of physical therapy
7. acknowledge the importance of the movement sciences within physical therapy curricula at all levels
8. emphasise the need for practice to be evidence-based whenever possible
9. appreciate the inter-dependence of practice, research and education within the profession
10. recognise the need to review continuously the description as the profession changes in response to the health needs of society and the development of knowledge in physical therapy
11. anticipate that work will flow from this description as it is used  to assist in the development of curricula and identification of areas for research

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