ECOLOGICAL BODIES AND RELATIONAL ANATOMIES: TOWARD A PLANETARY HEALTH FOUNDATION FOR PHYSIOTHERAPY EDUCATION

R. Richter¹, F. Maric^2,3

¹HFU Furtwangen University, Furtwangen, Germany, ²UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Department of Health and Care Sciences, Tromsø, Norway, ³Environmental Physiotherapy Association, Tromsø, Norway

Background: As planetary health education enters medical and health professional training, transversal implementation across curricula is critical in developing its full potential and enabling future health professionals to meet the social, environmental, and health challenges of current and future generations in an integrated manner.

Purpose: We conducted a study of local, national and international documents framing physiotherapy education to identify the status quo and advance the transversal implementation of planetary health into physiotherapy training.

Methods: To advance the transversal implementation of planetary health in physiotherapy education, our study proceeded through:
(1) a sequence analysis of documents framing physiotherapy education to identify relevant nexus points;
(2) an explorative implementation of planetary health into foundational anatomy and physiology modules identified as critical nexus points;
(3) practical implementation during the 2021 autumn semester.

Results: Implementation in the operative foundations of healthcare education—anatomy and physiology—enables the emphasis of the ecological nature of human bodies and interconnection with our planetary environment. Musculoskeletal joints accentuate the relational nature of bodies highlighted across current research and traditional knowledges, as dynamically pervaded and in interaction with culture, technology, objects, ideas, plants, planets, etc. Teaching relational anatomies thus highlights planetary health as the transversal foundation of medical and healthcare education.

Conclusions: The implementation of planetary health into the operative foundations of physiotherapy represents a deeply meaning- and impactful approach to advancing our professions of the ecological and social embeddedness of human bodies, function, activity and participation.

Implications: Making the ecological and relational foundation of human bodies, anatomies, and physiology more explicit will be critical for the transversal implementation of planetary health into physiotherapy education and subsequent practice, as well as the fundamental shifts in our understanding of human lives and health they require.

Funding acknowledgements: NA

Keywords:
Environmental Physiotherapy
Planetary Health
Anatomy

Topics:
Education
Musculoskeletal
Professional issues

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Reason: No human participants were involved in this study.