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World Physiotherapy Day 2025

World Physiotherapy Day has been celebrated every year on 8 September since 1996, the date that marks the founding of the current organisation. World Physiotherapy (WP)in 1951.

This date is an opportunity to recognise physiotherapy's essential contribution to health promotion, functionality and quality of life for the population at all stages of life. It is also a privileged moment to reinforce to society the value of the profession and the positive impact of physiotherapists' intervention in communities.

In 2025, the World Physiotherapy has chosen the following as the central themes of World Physiotherapy Day Healthy ageing and the Preventing fallsThe event will be held at the University of Coimbra, highlighting the role of physiotherapy in promoting autonomy, active ageing and reducing the risk of falls - one of the main causes of loss of independence and hospitalisation in older people.

A Order of Physiotherapists, a member of World Physiotherapy since the beginning of 2023, is joining in this celebration and actively participating in the translation and dissemination of materials produced by the international organisation. These resources include information leaflets, infographics, posters and banners, available in several languages, with the aim of supporting physiotherapists in their awareness-raising activities with patients and the community.

Information leaflets

Posters

Banners

World Physiotherapy Day in pictures

The Order of Physiotherapists shares some of the initiatives and contributions received in the context of the World Physiotherapy Day 2025celebrated this year under the motto of the healthy ageing and fall prevention.

The images illustrate how physiotherapists have marked this date in different contexts, reflecting the profession's commitment to promoting health, preventing illness and improving people's quality of life.

Northeast Local Health Unit

World Physiotherapy Day 2025 was celebrated at the Nordeste Local Health Unit by promoting activities in the three hospital units, as well as in all the health centres it covers. Theoretical and practical health education sessions were organised on the theme of healthy ageing, frailty and fall prevention. Information posters were also displayed and leaflets handed out.

Gaia and Espinho Local Health Unit

The Unidade Local de Saúde Gaia e Espinho (ULSGE) joined in the celebrations of World Physiotherapy Day, which this year took place under the theme "Activity for Healthy Ageing", promoting initiatives both in Hospital Healthcare and in Primary Healthcare, namely at the USF Vilar Saúde. At the hospital, physiotherapists organised an exercise class in the garden next to the Emergency Department, involving patients and raising awareness of the importance of physical activity as a factor in promoting health and active ageing. At the USF Vilar Saúde, there was an activity aimed at patients, highlighting the role of physiotherapy in preventing illness, rehabilitation and improving quality of life.

World Physiotherapy Day in the press

World Physiotherapy Day 2025 was widely highlighted in the media through articles, interviews and reports that gave visibility to the role of physiotherapists and the initiatives carried out in different parts of the country.

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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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