Nyhetsbrev IFPOHE (Augusti 2024)

International Federation of Physiotherapists working in Occupational Health and Ergonomics

IFPOHE– Newsletter - 6 August 2024 

Greetings to Members of IFPOHE Member Organisations, 

We are past the middle of the year already! We bring you the IFPOHE August Newsletter 2024 

May Webinar 2024 

Our May webinar 'Expanding environmental concerns in occupational health and ergonomics’ was most interesting with good attendance and audience interaction. The Speakers were Filip Maric (Norway) and Augustine Appah Acquah (Ghana) and facilitator Dr Jessica Stanhope (Australia) each being from the Environmental Physiotherapy Association (https://environmentalphysio.com).

Thank you again to our presenters for sharing their wisdom with us all on this important topic. 

Upcoming Webinars 

14th October 2024 NIVA Prolonging Working Life among senior workers (https://niva.org/course/prolonging-working-life-among-senior-workers/)

Upcoming IFPOHE Working Together Webinar – save the date 

15th October 2024. Discussion about Global Occupational Health Standards Barbara McPhee (Australia) and Shane Meys (New Zealand) – to be confirmed– details to follow. 

Upcoming training/education events 

November 29th 2024 ACPOHE study day, London, UK (https://acpohe.csp.org.uk/content/acpohe-study-day-2024)

December 4th – 5th Winter Seminar, Oulu, Finland. For further information please contact Marika.Heiskanen@oamk.fi

Conferences for your diary 

World Physiotherapy Congress, Tokyo, Japan 29th -31st May 2025 (https://wp2025.world.physio/?logged_in=true&_ga=2.124572362.155466083.1722918298-1720887292.1717555920)

New articles and items of interest 

Alyousef YS et al 2024 Work-related interventions are not commonly included in physiotherapy management of lower limb osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional survey of Australian Physiotherapists. Musculoskeletal Science and Practice (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468781224000377?via%3Dihub)

Reneman, M.F., Coenen, P., Kuijer, P.P.F.M. et al (2024). Tensions of Low-Back Pain and Lifting; Bridging Clinical Low-Back Pain and Occupational Lifting Guidelines. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10926-024-10210-1)

Congratulations to winning poster researcher Dr Michael Di Donato about “Patterns of physiotherapy attendance in compensated Australian workers with Low Back Pain for compensable injuries” (https://www.monash.edu/medicine/sphpm/units/healthy-working-lives-research-group/news-and-events)

Please send us any interesting citations of articles /events to share via the Newsletter 

2025 Elections and General Meetings (likely April/May 2025) 

Next year IFPOHE will hold General Elections for the Executive Committee. There will be at least two positions vacant. There is currently one position vacant and a second one will become available next year as Dr Kjerstin Stigmar will be retiring from the Executive Committee after serving IFPOHE since 2019, we thank her very much for all her work for IFPOHE. 

If possible, and in the interests of diversity and inclusion, the Executive Committee seek to have representatives from all our geographical regions, and only one person per country. Currently Executive Committee members are all female and come from the following World Physiotherapy Geographical regions: Europe (five committee members); Asia Western Pacific (two committee members), Africa (one committee member), South Americas (no committee members). 

To be on the Executive Committee we require your commitment to make time for meetings, planning and running the subgroup. There are approximately seven one hour committee meetings per year. We need help with webinars so if you are interested in technology that would be a great asset. We also need help with a range of administrative duties. 

Please register your interest in becoming an Executive Committee Member by letting the committee know, so they can answer any questions you may have. 

World Physiotherapy Leadership training course 

Yvonne and Rose attending both attending this course and learning about subgroup governance. 

Global Standards document 

The IFPOHE Global standards for Occupational Health Physiotherapy Practice (2024) (https://ifpoheworldphysiot.wixsite.com/ifpohe/education) are freely available on the IFPOHE website – please share them widely with your Members and interested colleagues. We encourage any additional feedback to hear about whether or not (1) you have accessed them and (2) you are using them in your country – for responses please reply to Rose Boucaut Rose.boucaut@unisa.edu.au and/or Barbara McPhee bmcphee@jkgroup.com.au - please label your subject line “Feedback on IFPHOE Global Standards”. 

Next IFPOHE committee meeting 

September 3rd, 2024 

With kind regards,
From the Executive Committee