From the President and Secretary General

The strength of the international physical therapy community was palpable this month. Well over 2,000 physical therapists put the finishing touches to their abstracts for WCPT’s Congress in June 2011. In the final 48 hours there were times when over 1,000 were completing the online submission at once. The build up to the Congress continued with the opening of online registration, which is expected to reach a peak at the end of November as people rush to catch the early bird rate available until the 2nd of December. 

September also saw the celebration of another successful World Physical Therapy Day. The event has gathered momentum around the world and becoming a yearly fixture in the calendars of physical therapists, representing a fantastic opportunity to inform the public and governments of the role the profession plays in population health.

Kind regards
Marilyn Moffat and Brenda J Myers

If you would like to use all or part of this E-letter for your own newsletters/websites then please feel free. We need your assistance to reach the profession around the world, so please send this e-update to your members.

Registration now open

Registration is now open for WCPT's Congress, World Physical Therapy 2011.  To make the most of the early bird rate and save up to €250, register before 2 December. www.wcpt.org/congress/registration

World Physical Therapy Day

A big thank you to all who have sent us news and photographs of the events that took place to celebrate World Physical Therapy Day. We have been inundated with emails from around the world. Please bear with us as we go through these, details will go up on the WCPT website soon.

If you haven't yet sent us information on your event, then please email us at Tato adresa je chráněna proti spamování, pro její zobrazení potřebujete mít Java scripty povoleny . You can also have your say and add a comment on WCPT's website at www.wcpt.org/wptday.

Art & health competiton

Look out for the launch of this exciting event. In the next month WCPT will be launching an art and health competition under the "Movement for Health" theme. We will be seeking outstanding pieces of artwork representing:

• human movement in health and disease
• people with functional limitations in action
• physical therapists at work

The competition will culminate in the chosen winner and runners up being shown at our forthcoming congress in Amsterdam, World Physical Therapy 2011. Watch this space!

Educata: free article

This month's free article from Educata is now available for download via the WCPT website at www.wcpt.org/educata:

Relationship between customary physical activity, muscle strength and physical performance in older men and women: findings from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study by Martin HJ, Syddall HE, Dennison EM, Cooper C and Sayer AA.

The article looks at how maintenance of muscle strength and physical performance in later life is an important component of healthy aging. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between customary physical activity, muscle strength and physical performance in older men and women.

Educata is a WCPT partner providing online education via a global web-based continuing education scheme for physical therapists. It offers a broad spectrum of courses covering areas as diverse as orthopaedics, cardiovascular/pulmonary, geriatrics and oncology. The courses are taught by top-ranked educators and experienced clinicians. Register for free and find out more information at www.wcpt.org/educata.

Education opportunities in Nepal

There are currently 2 positions being sought in Nepal for an Associate/Assistant Professor and a Physiotherapy Lecturer/Tutor. Details of these may be viewed on the Education section of the WCPT website under International Development at http://www.wcpt.org/node/29539.

Here you will also find news, updates and requests for short-term faculty or other support from physical therapy education programmes striving to develop in accordance with WCPT guidelines.

PPE newsletter

The Positive Practice Environments Campaign (PPE) has just issued its latest newsletter looking at recent workshops and how PPE principles are now being presented at major conferences and making it on the political agenda. http://www.ppecampaign.org/content/news-and-events

WCPT, along with other international professional health bodies, is collaborating with the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) to undertake a campaign to improve work environments and aid in staff recruitment and retention through the development of positive practice environments. For further information go to http://www.wcpt.org/node/29151#PPE.

Forthcoming events

7th Interdisciplinary World Congress on Low Back & Pelvic Pain: the preliminary programme for the congress is now available to view at http://www.worldcongresslbp.com/preliminary-pro.html, register online now. The Congress will be held November 9-12, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. For further details go to http://www.worldcongresslbp.com/.

IPPA subgroup meeting: the next regional meeting of the WCPT subgroup International Private Practitioner Association (IPPA) will take place during the Private Practice Section (PPS) of APTA’s 2010 Annual Conference & Exhibition, 3-6 November 2010. The IPPA Member Organisation representatives will be hosted by PPS on the 4 November with the IPPA Member Organisation meeting, health care issues debate, exhibit hall passes and round table discussions.  All meetings will be held at the PPS Conference’s venue, the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington DC. For further information about the PPS Conference please visit http://ppsapta.org/c/programming.cfm