For children diagnosed with cancer, the road to recovery is often fraught with physical, emotional and mental challenges. However, a unique initiative by Little Big Steps, a charity focused on physiotherapy and exercise medicine for young cancer patients, is changing the narrative.

Dharani Nagarajan, Germaine Tan, Leah McIntyre, Lizzie Eastwood and Kirsty Kirkland of the APA Cancer, Palliative Care and Lymphoedema group present five discussion points about physiotherapy before, during and after treatment for breast cancer.

Around the world, 4 February marks World Cancer Day, a day dedicated to taking collective action to address the global epidemic by advancing cancer awareness, prevention and research.

Dr Sonia Cheng, chair of the APA Cardiorespiratory national group, and Dr Lisa Pagano highlight the importance of measuring lung function in primary care and the role of physiotherapy in performing spirometry and interpreting spirometry results.

Samantha Bunzli and Ilana Ackerman consider the need for an updated Osteoarthritis of the Knee Clinical Care Standard and how it can support best practice care by physiotherapists.

Course coordinator Emma Holly discusses her two-day ‘Scar therapy practitioner’ course, led by Vickie Maher, which teaches physiotherapists a comprehensive range of manual scar massage techniques.

A group of academic physiotherapists in Brazil and Belgium reviewed the published literature to identify evidence about the effects of prophylactic non-invasive ventilation support in people who have undergone thoracic surgical procedures. One of the researchers, Adriana Lunardi, agreed to answer some questions.

A research team including Professor Mark Hancock from Macquarie University and Professor Peter O’Sullivan from Curtin University is currently recruiting physiotherapists for a new trial of cognitive functional therapy. The study aims to explore the implementation and effectiveness of cognitive functional therapy for people with chronic low back pain.

RESEARCH FOCUS Researcher Sally Mastwyk explains that recognising the signs and risk factors for metabolic syndrome opens the door to conversations with patients about physical activity and general health.

Carol McCrum discusses her online course ‘Axial Spondyloarthritis’ and what physiotherapists may learn about this inflammatory condition.