Statement on Paediatric Essential and Recommended Content Areas in Entry Level Professional Physical Therapy Education
In 2011, the WCPT developed " Guidelines for physical therapist professional entry level educational programs". The identification of the paediatric essential content areas by the IOPTP was developed to expand the description of the paediatric content that should be incorporated in professional entry-level educational programs. The IOPTP guideline and the WCPT guideline may provide guidance on standards, criteria, or courses of action in areas relevant to physical therapy education research, practice, or policy. These guidelines may be used for curriculum planning, curriculum development, in internal and external quality assurance processes and benchmarking, and standards assessment.
The full statement is available as a downloadable PDF file.
Statement on Practice
The International Organization of Physical Therapists in Paediatrics promotes practice that is evidence based (1) and supports the rights of the child and the family. (2-5)
Evidence based practice (EBP) — is an approach to practice wherein health professionals use the best available evidence from systematic research, integrating it with clinical expertise to make clinical decisions for service users, who may be individual patients/clients, carers and communities/populations. Research evidence includes, but is not limited to, meta-analyses, systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), individual RCTs, systematic reviews of cohort studies, individual cohort studies, outcomes research, systematic reviews of case-control studies, individual case-control studies, case- series and expert opinion. EBP values, enhances and builds on clinical expertise, knowledge of disease mechanisms, and pathophysiology. It involves complex and conscientious decision-making based not only on the available evidence but also on patient characteristics, situations, and preferences. It recognises that health services are individualised and ever changing and involves uncertainties and probabilities. (6-8)
References
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World Confederation for Physical Therapy. Policy statement: Evidence based practice.London, UK: WCPT;2011.
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United Nations. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York, USA: United Nations; 1989.
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United Nations. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, USA: United Nations; 2006.
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World Confederation for Physical Therapy. Endorsement: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. London, UK: WCPT;2011.
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World Confederation for Physical Therapy. Endorsement: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. London, UK: WCPT;2011.
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Evidence Based Medicine Working Group. Evidence-based medicine. A new approach to teaching the practice of medicine. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association. Nov 4 1992;268(17):2420-2425.
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McKibbon KA. Evidence based practice. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association.1998;86(3):396-401.
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Sackett DL, Rosenberg WMC, Gray JAM, Haynes RB, Richardson WS. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ. 1996-01-13 08:00:00 1996;312(7023):71-72.
March 2014
The full statement is available as a downloadable PDF file.
STATEMENT ON OBESITY In response to the final report of the World Health Organization’sCommission on Ending Childhood Obesity
Each of the six global recommendations from the WHO report on childhood obesity are of interest to physiotherapists based clinically and academically. Physiotherapists are encouraged to consider their role in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.
The full statement is available as a downloadable PDF file.