Mental health physiotherapy is not just associated with acute mental health services. It’s increasingly important across all settings. Mental health physiotherapist Dr Ryan McGrath discusses how mental health physiotherapy fits into clinical practice and the foundational skills and knowledge needed by all physiotherapists.

For patients presenting to hospital emergency departments with musculoskeletal conditions, the wait for assessment can be long. New findings from the RESHAP-ED trial provide strong evidence that putting physiotherapists at the front of the care pathway can improve patient flow, satisfaction and health service efficiencies without compromising clinical outcomes or safety and is cost-effective.

RECRUITMENT The Walk-IT trial is calling for physiotherapists to explore implementation strategies for the WalkBack program, helping to make prevention part of routine care for recurrent low back pain.

Read up on some of the recent research from the October issue of the Journal of Physiotherapy.

Four research projects led by physiotherapists were recently awarded National Health and Medical Research Council and Medical Research Future Fund grants, writes Brendan Bugeja.

Sophie Shephard, Dr Shelley Barlow, Dr Ryan McGrath, Emily Lile and Tessa Rose Gillespie of the APA Mental Health national group present five discussion points on how physiotherapists can adapt and optimise their approach when treating patients who may be anxious.

For cancer patients, adding exercise into their lives at a time when they are dealing with a cancer diagnosis and the whirlwind of surgery, treatments and management that follows might seem one step too far. The evidence, however, is mounting in favour of exercise as a critical component of cancer therapy.

HIP PAIN Exercise can improve quality of life for people with the common hip condition femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, according to a newly published study.

A recipient of a 2024 Seeding Grant has recently published her research into how swimming can reduce disability from chronic low back pain.

Scientific editor Mark Elkins provides a summary of the research found in the October issue of the Journal.