June 2009

New materials are now on the WCPT website in preparation for World Physical Therapy Day.  Keeping within our current theme of Movement for Health, the main focus is on the vital role physical therapists play in combating lifestyle diseases and, in particular, the worldwide obesity crisis. 

In addition to our existing 'toolkit' providing practical advice on how to plan an event and ideas for activities, this year we are providing extra factual materials to help you focus on particular types of lifestyle diseases that are relevant to your location and the contribution physical therapists make in combating them.  The new areas covered are:

• childhood obesity
• cardiovascular disease
• diabetes

We also have an updated article and new quotes from WCPT President Marilyn Moffat, which reflect specifically on these themes.

To download these, and other items within the existing toolkit, please go to the World Physical Therapy Day section of the WCPT website at http://www.wcpt.org/wptday.

Good luck with planning your activities and we look forward to hearing about events taking place.

The Call for Posters has now been issued for the International Policy Summit on Direct Access and Advanced Scope of Practice in Physical Therapy.  With the closing date quickly approaching please go to the website at  www.directaccesssummit.com for further information.  

The objective of the summit is to share international experiences in developing and implementing policy in these areas. A combination of high profile presenters, posters, discussion sessions, and a working group will help address key questions involving direct access and advanced scope of practice.

This will be an excellent opportunity for WCPT member organisations and individual physical therapists to focus on a key area of practice and policy and to work strategically.

Next month will see the first issue of WCPT's brand new publication, Congress update.  With planning for WCPT's 16th international congress, World Physical Therapy 2011, now well underway, Congress update will bring you the latest news and information regarding the event. 

Help spread the word by telling your friends and colleagues about the congress and encouraging them to register their interest on the WCPT website at http://www.wcpt.org/user/register.

The Bone and Joint Decade International Steering Committee has recently announced the call for nominations for two international programmes.

Firstly, for nominations for the 9th annual Bone and Joint Decade International Awards, which will be presented at an awards dinner during the upcoming BJD Global Network Conference on October 23 – 24, 2009.  The second is a call for nominations for Bone and Joint Decade Ambassadors, a programme designed to recognise global and national thought leaders in the musculoskeletal patient and health professional communities. 

For further information about these and how to put forward a nomination, please visit the Global Health section of the WCPT website at http://www.wcpt.org/node/27542#BJD. 

A draft version of a new WCPT paper, Standard evaluation process for the recognition/accreditation of physical therapy professional entry-level education programmes, will be sent to all WCPT member organisations, regions and subgroups in July for comment.

Once all comments have been received and reviewed a final draft will be prepared and made available via the WCPT website, prior to its consideration at the WCPT General Meeting in 2011.

The second issue of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA) newsletter for 2009 has just been published and is available to view within the Global Health section of the WCPT website at http://www.wcpt.org/node/29151.

The GHWA was created in 2006 as a common platform for action to address the chronic critical shortage of health workers worldwide. The Alliance is a partnership of national governments, civil society, international agencies, finance institutions, researchers, educators and professional associations dedicated to identifying, implementing and advocating for solutions.

The Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health organised by GHWA will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in the first quarter of 2011.

The aim of the second World Health Professions' Conference on Regulation (WHPCR) is to shape the future of health professional regulation within the context of the redesign of global health systems and evolving roles, always keeping in mind that public protection is the primary objective of health professional regulation. 

The objectives of the 2-day programme are to:

• Debate the future control and direction of health professional regulation within the context of changing scopes of practice
• Examine the regulatory & professional issues related to the international migration of health professionals
• Critically evaluate the relationship between health professional education, regulation and standards of practice

The conference will be held on 18-19 February 2010. If you are interested in participating in WHPCR 2010, please visit www.whpa.org/whpcr2010 for further information on registration and hotel booking.