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President at the 20th anniversary of the Jean Piaget School of Health - Vila Nova de Gaia

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President António Lopes took part in the ceremony commemorating the 20 years of the Jean Piaget School of Health - Vila Nova de Gaiaon 26 October.

 

In his speech at the Opening Session, he called it essential for the Order of Physiotherapists to collaborate with Higher Education Institutions with accredited courses in order to fulfil its statutory duty to "promoting the development of the scientific field of physiotherapy and its teaching".

He added that, as the bodies responsible for the degree courses that give access to the physiotherapy profession, higher education institutions take on the responsibility of placing competent and duly qualified professionals on the labour market, while the Order is responsible for granting the professional title and, therefore, defining the professional profile and quality standards for the provision of autonomous care, within the required ethical values.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Escola Superior de Saúde Jean Piaget - Vila Nova de Gaia, the President took the opportunity to announce that work is underway to create an assessment and accreditation system for postgraduate training, in association with the creation of a framework of specialities, ensuring that everyone will be called upon to collaborate in the public discussion of these projects, as happened with the Regulation of the Physiotherapist Actwith the Code of Ethics and with Disciplinary Regulation.

The institution currently has a Physiotherapy degree programme, among others.

Order of Physiotherapists and Health Regulatory Authority sign Cooperation Protocol

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The Order of Physiotherapists, represented by the President António Lopes, and the Health Regulatory Authority, represented by its Board of Directors, have agreed to sign a Cooperation Protocol with a view to improving the exercise of the respective attributions of each of the entities.

The two organisations believe that the Cooperation Protocol is fundamental in pursuing the common goal of increasing the quality of healthcare provided to the public, as well as guaranteeing compliance with the law.

The two organisations also agreed to work together to create a pool of technical experts to share human and technical resources and knowledge.

The signing ceremony for the Cooperation Protocol took place on Thursday 26 October at the ERS offices in Porto.

Covid-19 and flu: information for physiotherapists

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Physiotherapists are part of the group eligible for seasonal vaccination against COVID-19 in autumn-winter 2023-2024.

According to Standard 005/2023 According to the Directorate-General for Health, the following are covered: professionals and residents/users in Residential Structures for the Elderly (ERPI), similar institutions and the National Network for Integrated Continuing Care (RNCCI), and prisons; professionals in health services (public and private) and other health care services, students in clinical training, firefighters involved in transporting patients, carers for dependent people, as well as pregnant women, people aged ≥60 years and people aged 5-59 years with risk pathologies.

Influenza vaccination is recommended for Physiotherapists, who are part of the target groups for whom vaccination is recommended, regardless of whether it is free of charge, as mentioned in the Standard 006/2023 of the DGS.

The Order recalls that, as health professionals, physiotherapists must be accompanied by their professional card or a statement from their employer proving their professional activity.

 

More information at: 

Seasonal Flu Vaccination Campaign: autumn-winter 2023-2024

Seasonal Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign: autumn-winter 2023-2024

Order of Physiotherapists marks National Cerebral Palsy Day

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According to the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that people with cerebral palsy represent around 15% of the world's population and 2 out of every 1000 children are born with CP. In Portugal, around 20,000 people live with cerebral palsy, with an estimated 150 to 200 new cases every year.

Cerebral palsy encompasses a set of heterogeneous clinical disorders that differ in etiology, symptoms and severity. It is the most common developmental disorder in childhood, which conditions the life trajectory of the child and family, with an impact on the performance of functional day-to-day activities and social participation (home, school, community).

The future of a child with CP, like that of any other person, must be built step by step, achievement by achievement, and it is up to everyone around them to help them develop their potential to the full.

Physiotherapists play an important role in the process of (re)habilitating these children. Society must be able to help create opportunities to ensure that physical and/or cognitive limitations are not an obstacle to dreaming of the future, nor to reducing participation in different activities and contexts.

National Cerebral Palsy Day has been celebrated on 20 October since 2014, when resolution 27/2014 of 7 March was unanimously approved by the Portuguese Parliament.

Order of Physiotherapists highlights the role of physiotherapy in palliative care

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This Saturday, 14th October, marks the World Palliative Care DayThis is an internationally recognised date to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of access to Palliative Care.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that by 2060 the number of people with palliative needs in the world will have doubled.

In Portugal, only 30% of people with palliative needs have access to Palliative Care specialised.

Physiotherapy can help

Did you know that not all palliative patients are bedridden?

In fact, the WHO recommends living as active a life as possible until death.

To fulfil this recommendation, the Physiotherapy has emerged as an intervention of excellence in non-pharmacological symptom control and improving well-being and quality of life, right up until death. The main focus of Physiotherapist, in this context, is the promotion of autonomy and independence, with the function that exists at any given time.

Scientific evidence proves the benefits of the Physiotherapy in Palliative Care in the management of various symptoms such as reduced mobility, fatigue, pain, respiratory symptoms, anxiety and depression. We also know that physiotherapists actively contribute to a more meaningful and fulfilling end of life.

Order of Physiotherapists joins the theme "Mental Health is a universal human right"

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Today, 10 October, is World Mental Health Day, a date established by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). The World Health Organisation (WHO) also recognises and marks this day, this year with the theme: "Mental health is a universal human right".

The Order of Physiotherapists believes that World Mental Health Day is also an opportunity to raise awareness among the population and all users of physiotherapy care of the importance of the work of the physiotherapist. Physiotherapy in Mental Health.

Dear citizen. Did you know...

  • Physiotherapy in mental health is a transversal and specific area of physiotherapy, which operates in different health, mental health, psychiatric and psychosomatic medicine environments?
  • Does mental health physiotherapy address the relationship between psychological problems and somatic disorders (sleep disturbances, pain-related fear, psychological stress and depressed mood associated with a medical condition)?
  • Physiotherapy in mental health works on the relationship between mild mental problems and the main chronic non-communicable diseases. (anxiety and moderate depression associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; diabetes and cancer; depression associated with chronic pain; post-traumatic stress disorder associated with fibromyalgia and polytrauma and anxiety associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)?
  • Does physiotherapy in mental health work in the specialised approach to serious mental illnesses (major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and addictive behaviours and dependencies) in psychiatric units/hospitals?
  • Do physiotherapists working in the mental health field use technical strategies for body awareness and movement, as well as exercise and physical activity?
  • Are sensory stimulation techniques, relaxation therapy, psychomotor and psychosomatic physiotherapy strategies used by physiotherapists in the area of mental health?

O Mental Health Physiotherapy Working Group recommends reading some information for the benefit of physiotherapists.

Dear fellow physiotherapist. Did you know...

  • A 2022 meta-analysis concluded that physical exercise performed 3 times a week for 8 weeks reduces symptoms of depression in adolescents? (read more) here)
  • The higher the levels of physical activity, the greater the improvement in schizophrenia symptoms according to a 2022 meta-analysis that included 27 studies? (read more) here)
  • A recent study suggests that aerobic exercise has benefits in improving mental health in people over 60? (read more here)
  • Has there been a National Coordination of Mental Health Policies since 2021? (read more) here)
  • There has been a World Physiotherapy specialisation group dedicated to Mental Health Physiotherapy since 2011? (find out more) here)

Order of Physiotherapists marks four years with commemorative event

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On 30 September, the Order of Physiotherapists organised a commemorative event with the theme "Challenges in the Profession".

The opening session was attended by Secretary of State for Health, Ricardo Mestre, who thanked physiotherapists for their work in promoting the health of citizens, stressing that they are fundamental to helping the country achieve a better quality of life. "Today we have a longer average life expectancy. And this leads us to define policies that can intervene along the entire continuum of care: in health promotion, disease prevention, early diagnosis, timely treatment, continued rehabilitation throughout life, in other words, throughout the entire process we have to be able to introduce, as we have been promoting, improvements along the entire chain of care. And here, physiotherapists are important at all these stages. [...] It's a profession that we obviously rely on, a profession that we hope to be able to integrate more and more into this continuum of care." he said.

Earlier, also at the Opening Session, the President of the Order of Physiotherapists, António LopesHe said he wanted "our [physiotherapy] care is accessible to all citizens, in the different regions where they are, in the different health subsystems that represent them and in the time windows in which the contribution is most relevant" and that, in order to do so, "we will have to increase the number of physiotherapists in National Health Service institutions (of the more than 11,000 physiotherapists currently registered, only around 10% work in the NHS), overcoming obsolete models of referencing and prescribing standardised acts (the legislation itself has evolved but an organisational culture remains based on premises that have lost their meaning and reasonableness, namely the stigma that Physiotherapy is an exclusive part of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation silo) and create the conditions for a proper record of our intervention and monitoring of the results".

The opening session also included speeches by Chairman of the General Council, Rui Costa, and the President of the Jurisdictional Council, Isabel de Souza Guerra.

Honours

The event, which took place at the Belém Cultural Centre in Lisbon, was also marked by moments of homage to various personalities/entities who have distinguished themselves in the teaching of Physiotherapy as an autonomous scientific discipline: the Board of the Holy House of Mercy of Lisbon which, in 1957, began the project of training professionals in the field of rehabilitation with an international profile, João Vasconcelos Martins, Margarida Lopes Gouveia and Alice Beja Ferreirafor his merit and efforts in projecting the professional values that he was able to instil in all those who lived with him, and in consolidating the image of Portuguese physiotherapists, both nationally and internationally, Isabel Rasgado Rodrigues (Alcoitão Rehabilitation School), Cristina Argel de Melo (Porto Technical School of Health Services),  Isabel Sousa Coutinho (Lisbon Technical School of Health Services) and of João Neves Gil (Escola Técnica dos Serviços de Saúde de Coimbra), posthumously, for their merit and efforts in consolidating control of the training carried out by the physiotherapists themselves, through their leadership in the pedagogical and scientific aspects of the respective schools' courses and in the evolutionary process that led to their integration into higher education. The following were also honoured Madalena Gomes da Silvafor her merit in the development and affirmation of Physiotherapy as an autonomous scientific discipline, namely for being the first Portuguese physiotherapist to obtain a doctorate in Physiotherapy, Jan Cabri, for his merit in the development and affirmation of Physiotherapy as an autonomous scientific discipline in Portugal, namely for having led the creation of the first doctoral programme in Physiotherapy at the Lisbon Faculty of Motricity of the Technical University of Lisbon, and for having led the creation of the first doctoral programme in Physiotherapy at the Lisbon Faculty of Motricity of the Technical University of Lisbon. José Alberto Duarte,  for his merit in the development and affirmation of Physiotherapy as an autonomous scientific discipline in Portugal, namely for having led the creation of the first cycle of doctoral studies in Physiotherapy at the Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto, which is still in operation today.

The following were also honoured António Lacerda Sales e Isabel Galriça Neto, as personalities who promoted the initiative to create the Order, namely for the merit and effort made in drafting and subscribing to a legislative project that would be approved by the Assembly of the Republic, giving rise to Law no. 122/2019, of 30 September, which created the Order of Physiotherapists and approved the respective Statutes and Isabel de Souza Guerra He was recognised for his dynamism and perseverance, the spirit of all those who, for decades, fought hard to achieve the goal of creating the Order of Physiotherapists, and the merit of having led the process of its installation, as President of the Installation Commission.

The morning also included a ceremony to welcome new physiotherapists into the profession.

Round table "Physiotherapy - A profession that adds value in Health!"

In the afternoon, the Studies and Planning Office, Eduardo José Cruz, launched the debate "Physiotherapy - A profession that adds value in Health!", which brought together the following speakers Pedro Maciel Barbosa with a presentation entitled "Person-centred practice", Sara Souto Miranda with "Evaluation of the experience and results obtained" and Carlos SandThe theme of the conference was "Evolution of national research in Physiotherapy. A bibliometric analysis of the development of evidence, impact and clinical-academic collaboration in recent decades".

The closing session was organised by 1st Vice-Chairman of the Board, Nuno Cordeiro.

Here are the photos that marked the 4th anniversary of the Order of Physiotherapists (gallery being updated)

Order of Physiotherapists heard in Parliament

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The Order of Physiotherapists was at the Portuguese Parliament this Tuesday, 26 September, for a hearing as part of the special assessment of Bill 96/XV/1st (GOV), which amends the Statutes of Public Professional Associations, and Bill 98/XV/1st (GOV), which amends the legal framework for the constitution and operation of professional societies covered by public professional associations.

At the hearing with the Working Group of Professional Orders, part of the Labour, Social Security and Inclusion Committee, the President of the Order of Physiotherapists, António Lopes, stressed the impact of the proposed Statute for the Order of Physiotherapists on citizens and users of health services, particularly physiotherapy services, arguing that the regulation of physiotherapists' practice, aimed at safeguarding the user, is seriously compromised.

The Order of Physiotherapists has expressed its position on the changes it believes should be introduced in the specialised area, with a view to prioritising the criterion of the specialisation of health professionals, namely by introducing a definition of physiotherapy as an autonomous scientific discipline, in addition to the competences of physiotherapists.

The speech also referred to the fact that the profession is regulated throughout the European Union, with the Order of Physiotherapists being the competent authority for issuing the respective European Professional Licence.

As well as the President, the hearing was attended by the 1st Vice-President of the Board, Nuno Cordeiro, and the Legal Adviser, Luis Camejo.

Order of Physiotherapists appoints thematic Working Groups

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The Order of Physiotherapists has set up a number of Working Groups, divided into thematic areas of intervention in Physiotherapy and made up of Physiotherapists with a recognised professional profile in the respective areas.

The Working Groups on "Patient Safety", "Physiotherapy in Sports", "Physiotherapy in Mental Health", "Physiotherapy in Oncology", "Aquatic Physiotherapy", "Cardiorespiratory and Vascular Physiotherapy", "Physiotherapy in Pelvic and Women's Health", "Physiotherapy in Neurology" are already active, "Physiotherapy in the context of emergencies, disasters and humanitarian action", "Physiotherapy in Paediatrics", "Dermatofunctional Physiotherapy", "Physiotherapy in Public Health", "Physiotherapy in Occupational Health and Ergonomics" and "Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy", and others may be formed.

These Working Groups, under the supervision of the Board of Directors, have the general objectives of supporting and advising on the processes of creating a Framework of Professional Physiotherapy Specialities in Portugal, creating a System for the Assessment, Accreditation and Accreditation of Continuing and Postgraduate Training, among other purposes, including the presentation of proposals aimed at improving the transparency of ongoing projects and the quality of information, contributing to a more informed decision-making process and the fulfilment of the mission of the Order of Physiotherapists. The Working Groups may also represent the Order, under the terms defined by the Board.

Information on the composition and specific objectives of each Working Group will be published on the website of the Order of Physiotherapists.

Pedro Maciel Barbosa

Specialist physiotherapist at the Matosinhos Local Health Unit Sub-coordinator for Primary Health Care, Matosinhos Local Health Unit Visiting Assistant Professor at the Porto School of Health Member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Health - SNS Member of the General Council of the Order of Physiotherapists

Carlos Sand

Carlos Areia has been a physiotherapist since 2013, and has worked in various hospitals, clinics and clubs in both Portugal and the UK. He began his academic career at Oxford University in 2016, where he led a clinical trial comparing physiotherapy vs surgery in anterior cruciate injuries in 32 hospitals in England. In 2018 she moved to the neurosciences department, where she developed her own studies on remote monitoring of vital signs, which were implemented during the pandemic. Here he discovered his passion for data, and in 2022, he joined Digital Science as a Data Scientist. He completed his PhD earlier this year, and has more than 60 publications in journals such as The Lancet, BMJ, Cochrane, among others. He is also an honorary lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and a consultant in clinical research.

Eduardo José Brazete Carvalho Cruz

PhD in Physiotherapy from the University of Brighton, UK. Post-Doctorate in Epidemiology from the National School of Public Health at the New University of Lisbon.
Coordinator of the Studies and Planning Office of the Order of Physiotherapists. Coordinating Professor of the Physiotherapy Department of the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (ESS-IPS). President of the ESS-IPS Technical-Scientific Council. Coordinator of the Physiotherapy Department at ESS-IPS. Integrated Researcher at the Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC) (a partnership between FCM-UNL, the National School of Public Health, the University of Évora, the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health and Santo Espírito Hospital, Terceira Island, Azores).

Sara Souto Miranda

Sara Souto Miranda has a bachelor's and master's degree in physiotherapy from the University of Aveiro, and a postgraduate qualification in adult respiratory physiotherapy from the same institution. In 2023 she completed her double doctorate in Rehabilitation Sciences/Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at the Universities of Aveiro and Maastricht (Netherlands) and is currently working as a technical-scientific advisor to the Studies and Planning Office (GEP) of the Order of Physiotherapists, and as a guest lecturer at the Piaget Institute in Vila Nova de Gaia. As a member of the Respiratory Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Aveiro (Lab3R), she has carried out applied research in which she has assessed and treated patients with respiratory pathology, having taken part in 6 research projects. Throughout her career she has published 19 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals with an impact factor, 1 book chapter and more than 50 abstracts in conference proceedings. She was a research volunteer at the Ciro rehabilitation centre (Centre for expertise in chronic organ failure) in the Netherlands, and is currently a member of the Guideline Methodology Network of European Respiratory Society. She was honoured by European Lung Foundation e European Respiratory Society for carrying out patient-centred research, by the Directorate General for Higher Education with a merit grant for his master's degree, and by the Ciro Centre with a grant to support research abroad.

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