
WCPT Affiliated Network
Address
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences
Tervuursevest 101
3000 Heverlee-Leuven
Belgium
Tel: +32 16 329 0044
Aquatic Physical Therapy International (APTI) - A network affiliated to WCPT
Welcome to the home of APTI - Aquatic Physical Therapy International.
Our Mission
To promote evidence based aquatic physical therapy around the world.
The objectives of APTI are to:
- Promote evidence based practice and clinical reasoning in aquatic physical therapy
- Collect information on best clinical practice, safety and hygiene standards
- Provide a forum to discuss clinical practice and management issues in aquatic physical therapy
- Promote collaborative research and facilitate communication on research topics and outcomes
- Support the development of aquatic physical therapy in low-resourced countries
- Promote and support the development of educational materials and professional development
- Liaise and collaborate with other groups of aquatic therapy professionals
Membership
Membership of APTI is free, and open to all physical therapists working in aquatic therapy who would like to become more informed about aquatic therapy, and would like to share their experiences. Also physical therapy students with a clear interest in this area can apply.
Affiliated membership is open to aquatic professionals with other health related educational backgrounds. APTI acknowledges that aquatic therapy is a field in which the expertise of other allied health - movement - professions and sciences is valuable, and would like to share that expertise.
You can apply for membership by sending an email with your name, country, professional background and field of expertise to Johan.lambeck@faber.kuleuven.be. Through your membership you will be linked with colleagues who share the same background and interests, in your own country and abroad.
The network has the opportunity to meet face to face every four years at WCPT's international congress. The next meeting will be in May 2015 in Singapore.
Publication possibilities
- International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education
- The Journal of Aquatic Physical Therapy produced by the APTA Aquatic Section (USA)
- Aqualines produced twice yearly by the CSP Aquatic Physiotherapy Group (UK)
- Newsplash produced twice yearly by the Australian Aquatic Group
Aquatic Therapy Forum: E-publication possibilities for colleagues who would like to present their work, but do not want to go through reviewing processes for formal journals. The Aquatic Therapy Forum also includes poster presentations and PowerPoints. For information contact Johan Lambeck at Johan.lambeck@faber.kuleuven.be
APTI plans to collate resources to further our objectives and will post them to the website when they are available.
Aquatic physical therapy groups and contacts
| Country | Group | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Asociación Argentina de Hidroterapia | Eliana Lopez |
| Australia | Australian Physiotherapy Association Aquatic Group | Sophie Heywood |
| Brazil | Associação Brasileira de Fisioterapia Aquática | Ronaldo Wegner |
| Chile | Aquatic group, Colegio of Kinesiologos de Chile | Daniela Casado |
| Denmark | Faggruppen for Bassinterapi | Trine Risum |
| Mexico | Red Mexicana de Terapia Acuatica | Eugenia Hernandez Ruiz |
| Poland | Polish Aquatic Physiotherapy Group | Anna Olasinska |
| Portugal | ||
| South Africa | South African Society of Physiotherapy Aquatic Physiotherapy Group | Dalene Labrum |
| South Korea | International Aquatic Therapy Association Korea (IATA-Korea) | Jihye Lee |
| Spain | Red Española de Terapia Acuatica (RETAc) | Javier Gueita |
| Turkey | Turkish Physiotherapy Association Aquatherapy Subgroup | Barış Gürpinar |
| United Kingdom | Aquatic Therapy Association of Chartered Physiotherapists | Heather Maling |
| United States of America | American Physical Therapy Association Aquatics Section | David M Morris |
Individual contacts
| Country | Contact |
|---|---|
| Belgium | Daniel Daly |
| Canada | Alison Bonnyman |
| Colombia | Catalina Gutierrez Villamizar |
| Finland | Ben Waller |
| Germany | Marcel Hulselmans |
| Hungary | Maria Barnai |
| India | Prashanth c.g. |
| Israel | Irit Tsedek |
| Italy | Marco Barile |
| Malta | Owen Sant’ Angelo |
| Netherlands | Johan Lambeck |
| Peru | Miguel Angel Cema |
| Qatar | Lubomir Janco |
| Romania | Rusu Ligia |
| Slovenia | Cirila Burja |
| Switzerland | Urs Gamper |
| Uruguay | Noemi Fremd |
International organisations
| Organisation | Description |
|---|---|
| Aquaevidence/outcome network | A European Union network, based at the faculty of kinesiology and rehabilitation sciences of the Katholijeke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. The network collects evidence of aquatic therapy, establishes proper outcome measures and connects teaching and research institutes in the EU zone. The network possesses a large database on aquatic therapy articles. |
Medical advisor
Dr Bruce Becker MD, MS. Research Professor and Director, National Aquatics and Sports Medicine Institute, Washington State University, Clinical Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Questions for him can be sent to Johan Lambeck at Johan.lambeck@faber.kuleuven.be

