Portuguese Association of Physiotherapists
The Portuguese Association of Physiotherapists celebrated World Physical Therapy Day (WPTD) with several activities with the following main objectives:
- To promote the profession to the general public.
- To promote the initiatives implemented by Portuguese physiotherapists in the context of the commemoration of the WPTD.
- To increase the literacy of the general public regarding chronic pain and how physical therapy can help to manage the condition
ESTeSC Coimbra Health School
To celebrate World Physical Therapy Day 2019, ESTeSC Coimbra Health School, in association with local physical therapists, promoted a morning full of activities around the city of Coimbra, Portugal. Promoting this year’s "Chronic Pain" campaign message, a group of PTs and PT students went to the Green Park distributing flyers to raise awareness about the significant role that PTs have in helping people with chronic pain develop the skills they need to manage and take control of their condition, increase their activity and improve their quality of life. The group also invited local people to participate in a group exercise session in the Green Park and a walk around the city’s old town. Participants received fruit and water. Local news covered the event.
Figueira da Foz District Hospital
To celebrate World Physical Therapy Day, Figueira da Foz District Hospital held several activities. Around this year's focus on chronic pain activities were developed in order for the hospital community to disseminate the various roles of physiotherapy to the community, including therapeutic exercise for lumbar and cervical pain, therapeutic exercise for elderly people, headache and postural assessment, briefing session about lumbar pain. Posters wre also displayed about physical therapy intervention in our Hospital on fall prevention, headaches, respiratory physical therapy and information for the care giver.
Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça and Hospital Dr. João de Almada
In order to celebrate World Physical Therapy Day physical therapists from Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça and Hospital Dr. João de Almada in Madeira promoted a dynamic activity in "Espaço Sénior das Cruzes" for 70 people of various ages. The activity's main goal was to educate the public to the role of physical therapy and exercise in the management of chronic pain.This was integrated in the Erasmus Project-Time to Make the Move.Education, multicultural learning and team work with smiles, music and good energy to promote the dissemination of the project that began with their activity in Portugal. Other countries are France,Turkey,Spain,Hungary and UK. This special day was also celebrated with the educational video in Regional Health system televisions and in patient hall of MFR Service, interview in local main journal and tv regional station and local magazine. And because the patients make us the physical therapist that we are, we made by hand little papper boxes with flyers to manage low back pain and with physical therapy history/education details
