Rehabilitation

A man stares at a woman on the screen of a tablet as if conducting a telehealth appointment.
INMOTION 01 Feb, 2024

Telehealth-delivered pelvic floor training after gyneacological cancer surgery feasible

Pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) delivered by telehealth may be a feasible intervention for urinary incontinence and/or faecal incontinence after gynaecological cancer surgery, say Australian researchers in a paper published in Supportive Care in Cancer in 2023.

A physiotherapist helps an older woman with arm exercises.
INMOTION 01 Feb, 2024

Charting a course through Parkinson’s disease

Early career researcher Cassandra Wong has received a Seeding Grant to investigate how Parkinson’s disease patients access physiotherapy services and why.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition that affects almost 200,000 people in Australia, around 80 per cent aged 65 and over. 

Symptoms such as tremors, slow movements and/or rigidity appear when the brain is unable to make enough dopamine to control movement.

Woman dancing holding colourful veils.
INMOTION 01 Feb, 2024

Dancing to prevent falls

Dance has been shown to be good for both the minds and bodies of people as they age. Nancy Low Choy Memorial Gerontology/Neurology Seeding Grant recipient Heidi Gilchrist outlines that carefully structured dance classes may also help prevent falls.

Regular physical activity is a necessity for people as they get older, not just for fitness but also to prevent falls. 

The TEAM Trial team accept the 2023 Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Trial of the Year Award (photo supplied). From left to right: Lisa Higgins and Tessa Broadley (TEAM Management Committee), Professor Carol Hodgson, Professor Steve Webb (Chair of ACTA), and Michelle Paton (TEAM physiotherapist at Monash Health).
INMOTION 01 Feb, 2024

TEAM ICU trial shows usual care is enough

A trial of early active mobilisation in critically ill patients has won a prestigious research award. Professor Carol Hodgson discusses the trial and its surprising result.

About 40 per cent of patients in intensive care units (ICU) develop ICU-acquired weakness—a musculoskeletal condition that results in generalised muscle weakness due to a combination of inflammation, protein catabolism, the effects of drugs given to ICU patients and prolonged bed rest. 

A man and a woman stand on a stage in front of the words IGNITE 2023. There is a blue curtain behind them. They are holding notes and microphones.
INMOTION 01 Feb, 2024

Spasticity manual at your fingertips

A digital upgrade for a popular spasticity assessment guide won the Physiotherapy Research Foundation Physio Pitchfest 2023 Judges’ Award at the APA conference last October.

Since its first publication in 2019, the Epworth Foundation’s A Guide to the Modified Tardieu Scale has become a bestseller among physiotherapists working with patients presenting with spasticity.

A person in a wheelchair stares out in to the wide world.
INMOTION 01 Dec, 2023

Moving beyond disability

Robert Vander Kraats was a fit and active physiotherapist with a bustling private practice in Perth when he experienced a stroke mid-consultation with a patient. To coincide with International Day of People with a Disability this month, Robert shares his remarkable story here.

A blinding headache like nothing Robert Vander Kraats APAM had ever known was the first sign that something was seriously wrong. 

Barbie Singer and Michael Ryan are named the APA's new Honoured Members.
INMOTION 01 Dec, 2023

Giving back leads to APA’s highest honour for duo

Michael Ryan and Barby Singer are the two newest names added to the APA’s Honoured Member board. And both share a philosophy of being part of the change that they want to happen.

MICHAEL RYAN

Sometimes it has been out of self-described ‘sheer bloody-minded aspiration and determination’. 

At other times it has been through the insistence or encouragement of peers and colleagues. 

A woman is using hand weights in a pool.
INMOTION 01 Dec, 2023

5 Facts: about aquatic physiotherapy

Dr Sophie Heywood, Clare Martinac and Manny Kwok present five discussion points about the physical, mental and social effects of aquatic physiotherapy and the benefits of exercise in this environment.

Catherine Granger at the World Lung Conference in 2018.
INMOTION 01 Nov, 2023

Breathing life into lung cancer research

To coincide with Lung Cancer Awareness Month in November, InMotion speaks with clinician, researcher and educator Catherine Granger, who has spent a significant part of her career treating and evaluating interventions for people with lung cancer who have had, or are recovering from, lung surgery.

Brightly coloured lines zoom across the page with a microscope over them to suggest examination.
INMOTION 01 Nov, 2023

Standing up for equality and pelvic health

AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF PHYSIOTHERAPISTS A passion for gender equality led Alexandra Diggles first to physiotherapy, then to titling and specialisation.

Alexandra Diggles FACP was five when her family moved to Pakistan for 12 months to live in Quetta, on the border of Afghanistan.

She vividly remembers that it fired her interest in social justice and equity.

‘My dad was in the army and our family joined him on the posting.

‘It was an eye-opening experience after living in middle-class Brisbane.