Global Physio Podcast

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In this final Part 3, we speak with 2 guests. Amira Dirie is a registered psychotherapist, currently based on the East Coast of Canada. Sandra Ballantyne is a Canadian physiotherapist who has lived and worked in urban and remote areas of Canada, in Europe and in the Middle East. Early clinical experience in Lebanon and research in Palestine led her to graduate work in Community-Based Rehabilitation under conditions of political violence, completing a Palestinian case study. She subsequently practiced within CBR in Palestine, then returned to Canada, continuing to focus on community care. Sandra is married to a Palestinian public health professional, and they and their children are strongly linked with family in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and in the Palestinian diaspora. In the last two years, Sandra has been increasingly active for Palestine solidarity within health care and faith- based communities. She has recently retired from clinical practice. In our workplaces and beyond, Sandra is encouraged by our shared commitment to pursue universal human rights.

More about this series:
This Palestine Series, we sit down with three physiotherapists from Canada, the UK, and Australia, and a psychotherapist from Canada to explore their experiences with anti-Palestinian racism in healthcare systems. Together, we reflect on our personal and professional connections to Palestine, how the ongoing occupation across Palestine and ongoing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza shape not only lives on the ground but also clinical and rehab spaces globally.

In this series, we speak openly about discrimination, advocacy, and responsibility. We examine how politics enters healthcare spaces and institutions, how it impacts providers and patients, and what role rehabilitation professionals can and should play in advancing health justice and equity globally.

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In Part 2, we speak with Dr. Rachel Coghlan. She has over 20 years’ experience in public health, humanitarian response, and clinical physiotherapy practice, specialising in palliative care, neurology, oncology, and rehabilitation. She is a global leader on qualitative research and advocacy concerning palliative care in serious illness and injury in humanitarian settings, with a focus on armed conflict. Rachel has undertaken a PhD on palliative care in Gaza.

Rachel is a storyteller who focuses on amplifying the voices and wisdom of those affected by illness, disability, or frailty, including during crisis. She enjoys writing to spread a little compassion and humanity in living and in dying, and to help make sense of grief and suffering in our world. Before and during the current genocide, Rachel has written and spoken extensively to ensure the stories and truths of friends and colleagues living in Gaza reach the world.

More about this series:
In this Palestine Series, we sit down with three physiotherapists from Canada, the UK, and Australia, and a psychotherapist from Canada to explore their experiences with anti-Palestinian racism in healthcare systems. Together, we reflect on our personal and professional connections to Palestine, how the ongoing occupation across Palestine and ongoing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza shape not only lives on the ground but also clinical and rehab spaces globally.

In this series, we speak openly about discrimination, advocacy, and responsibility. We examine how politics enters healthcare spaces and institutions, how it impacts providers and patients, and what role rehabilitation professionals can and should play in advancing health justice and equity globally.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

In this Palestine Series, we sit down with three physiotherapists from Canada, the UK, and Australia, and a psychotherapist from Canada to explore their experiences with anti-Palestinian racism in healthcare systems. Together, we reflect on our personal and professional connections to Palestine, how the ongoing occupation across Palestine and ongoing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza shape not only lives on the ground but also clinical and rehab spaces globally.

In this series, we speak openly about discrimination, advocacy, and responsibility. We examine how politics enters healthcare spaces and institutions, how it impacts providers and patients, and what role rehabilitation professionals can and should play in advancing health justice and equity globally.

In Part 1, we have Rachael Moses, a physiotherapist for 25 years with experience in the British military, national health service, voluntary and humanitarian sectors.  Following general rotations, Rachael specialised in critical care and respiratory physiotherapy with special interests in major trauma and mechanical ventilation.  Rachael has been fortunate to work in a number of senior positions both in the UK and internationally and for the past 8 years Rachael has been volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians, travelling to Gaza over this time.  Rachael has had the privilege to work alongside inspirational physiotherapists who have been continuously working throughout the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

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This episode, we are delighted to introduce our listeners to Zeina Abu-Jurji, our new co-host on the podcast. Zeina’s passion and commitment in advancing health justice was evident from the very first conversation we had, and we are excited to continue to bring more conversation about physiotherapy, rehabilitation and global health to this space.

Read more about Zeina on our website, https://globalphysio.ca/about-us/.

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Today’s guests are three second year physiotherapy students at the University of Manitoba: Emma De Guzman Caballero, Alana Lesperance and Gurkirat Gill. They talk about the literature review they conducted as part of their physiotherapy programme that focused on recommendations on how to provide environmentally-responsible community-based physiotherapy in Winnipeg.

Bio:
Alana Lesperance is a 2nd year MPT student at the University of Manitoba. She is passionate about health and wellness and was a high-level ringette player who played for the 2017 national ringette team that won gold against Finland. Currently she still plays ringette for the Manitoba Herd in the NRL. She is currently interested in working in acute care CVP PT but open to any opportunities that arise once graduated. 

Emma De Guzman Caballero is a 2nd year physiotherapy student at the University of Manitoba. She had lived all over the west coast of Canada but has settled with her husband in friendly Manitoba! Her interests include playing volleyball, basketball, biking, and strength training. She loves going to the beach and for evening walks outside. As far as physiotherapy goes, she loves all aspects of the profession, but has a special interest in private practice and a passion for cardiorespiratory care! This project and the opportunity to participate in this podcast has really opened her eyes to all the possibilities for physiotherapy and planetary health. She is excited to put these concepts into her own physio practice!

Resources:
– https://globalphysio.ca/gp044-mindfulness-and-environmental-justice-with-elizabeth-houlding-susan-czyzo/

– https://world.physio/policy/ps-climate-change-and-health

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This episode, which was recorded in early 2024, features two physiotherapists, Adelaide Rusinga and Dr. Nathalia Costa, who share the learnings from their paper titled “Exploring the Systemic Structures that Affect Access to Physical Therapist Services for Non-Indigenous Black People in Australia.” Their research set out to explore the perspectives of non-Indigenous Black people when it comes to the physiotherapy profession in Australia. We discuss the intersection of race, whiteness and physiotherapy, and ways to move towards a more culturally aware and appropriate profession.

Adelaide Rusinga is community based paediatric and neurological focus Physiotherapist based in Brisbane Australia. She is passionate about equitable health care provision, inclusive services, and advocacy of the physiotherapy profession.

Dr Nathalia Costa is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. She is passionate about using qualitative methods and methodologies to make research, healthcare and education more inclusive, nuanced and just. Her publications (50+) span a diverse range of themes, including musculoskeletal conditions, pain, policy, sociology and culturally responsive care. She has also taught across various disciplines, including research methods, musculoskeletal physiotherapy, sociology applied to health and health policy.

Resources:

– Adelaide and Nathalias’ Paper: Exploring the Systemic Structures That Affect Access to Physical Therapist Services for Non-Indigenous Black People in Australia

– Is Physiotherapy a Luxury by Dave Nicholls

– Episode 47: Physiotherapy Education from the Perspective of Muslim Women with Sarah Jang and Nathalia Costa

– Sarah Jang and Nathalia’s Paper: Exploring physiotherapy education in Australia from the perspective of Muslim women physiotherapy students.

– Dr. Bernadette Brady

– Romy Parker

– Dr. Rebecca Olson

– Dr. Jenny Setchell

– A World of Hurt: A Guide to Classifying Pain by Melissa Kolski and Annie O’Connor

– Beavis, A.S.W., Hojjati, A., Kassam, A. et al. What all students in healthcare training programs should learn to increase health equity: perspectives on postcolonialism and the health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. BMC Med Educ 15, 155 (2015).

– Hojjati A, Beavis ASW, Kassam A, Choudhury D, Fraser M, Masching R, Nixon SA. Educational content related to postcolonialism and indigenous health inequities recommended for all rehabilitation students in Canada: a qualitative study. Disabil Rehabil. 2018

– Claire Ashton-James

Contact Us:

– Website: globalphysio.ca

– E-mail: globalphysiopodcast@gmail.com

– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globalphysiopodcast/

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– Twitter: https://twitter.com/globalptpodcast

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Today’s guest is Ray Gates, an Aboriginal Australian (Bundjalung) physiotherapist with over 20 years experience as a PT and with Indigenous health. He was the first Aboriginal PT to become a member and later Chairperson of the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s (then) Indigenous Health Committee. He was a founder of the first Indigenous Physiotherapy Support Network in Australia, which later became the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Physiotherapists (NAATSIP). He has been involved with Indigenous health both in Australia and around the world in a variety of roles. Ray is currently living in the United States where he continues to advocate for the physiotherapy profession to be a key stakeholder in addressing the disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health around the world.

Resources:

– How to contact Ray: rayg@raygatesphysicaltherapy.com

– Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA)

– National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Physiotherapists, Inc. (NAATSIP)

– Close the Gap Initiative

– Tae Ora Tinana

– Why Indigenous health needs non-Indigenous allies

– Global Health Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA)

– US Indigenous Physical Therapy Network (IPTN)

– Canadian Conferences on Global Health (CCGH)

– Rachel Thibeault on ResearchGate

Contact Us:

– Website: globalphysio.ca

– E-mail: globalphysiopodcast@gmail.com

– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globalphysiopodcast/

– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globalphysiopodcast

– Twitter: https://twitter.com/globalptpodcast

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Today’s guest is Stephanie Lurch, a storyteller, activist, leader and physiotherapist. A dynamic award-winning educator, Stephanie has worked across multiple settings in the healthcare and education sectors, bridging the gap between academia and practice. Her career has been distinguished by a wide breadth of clinical, teaching and real-life experiences including working with the Cirque du Soleil, as part of a team of caregivers in West Africa, with Indigenous peoples in New Zealand, and currently as a paediatric physiotherapist in the public school system. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University, Lecturer at Western University and was the inaugural Assistant Professor and Academic Lead: Equity, Anti-racism and Social Accountability at the University of Toronto in the Department of Physical Therapy where she worked for over 10 years. She is recognized for integrating social justice and the arts into health professions education. Her past achievements include, but are not limited to co-authoring the Essential Competency Profile for Physiotherapists in Canada (in 2017), co-authoring new equity-driven accreditation standards for Physiotherapy Education Accreditation Canada (in 2020) and providing thought leadership to both learners and key opinion leaders. Stephanie has been an invited keynote speaker in the healthcare and education spaces. Her book chapter Moving in Complex Spaces: A Call to Action for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Physiotherapy promises to further her impact. Stephanie discusses her keynote address at the Canadian Physiotherapy Association National Congress in 2024 entitled “Manifesto of a Critical Consciousness”, and so much more, in this inspiring episode.

Resources:

– Manifesto of a Critical Consciousness Recording

– Lurch S, Cobbing S, Chetty V, Maddocks S. Challenging power and unearned privilege in physiotherapy: lessons from Africa. Front Rehabil Sci. 2023 Jun 26;4:1175531. doi: 10.3389/fresc.2023.1175531. PMID: 37521329; PMCID: PMC10381923.

– Sir Ted Robinson Ted Talk: Do Schools Kill Creativity

– Mary Anne Chambers: “The real downside of privilege is that we get a narrow view of life”

– Tracy Blake: Sport and Justice with Tracy Blake Part 1 and Sport and Justice with Tracy Blake Part 2

– bell hooks: “radical space of possibility”

– Fannie Lou Hamer: “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free”

– Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – Harriet Jacobs 

– Dr. Ayana Johnson

– Phoebe Boswell: “Justice is Medicine”

– Examining Anti-Blackness in Canadian Physiotherapy Education Using Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism as Theoretical Perspectives By Oyindamola Otubusen and Stephanie Lurch

Contact Us:

– Website: globalphysio.ca

– E-mail: globalphysiopodcast@gmail.com

– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globalphysiopodcast/

– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globalphysiopodcast

– Twitter: https://twitter.com/globalptpodcast

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In today’s episode, the co-hosts interview Hilary Crowley who is a physiotherapist and an author. Hilary published a travel memoir entitled “Mini Saga in South Africa” about a year that she spent working around South Africa in the 1960s. This was during apartheid which started in 1948 and continued until 1994. Her experiences there led her to follow a career in paediatrics and overseas development work. It also formed the base of her interest in politics. Her previous books include Footsteps to Freedom, which covers 25 years of experiences volunteering in a community based rehabilitation program in rural south India, and Health in the Himalaya.

Resources:

– Hilary’s previous episode on the podcast: GP017: Overseas Development with Hilary Crowley

– Hilary’s website: https://hilarycrowleyauthor.ca/

– Footsteps to Freedom

– Health in the Himalaya

– Mini Saga in South Africa

– Health Volunteers Overseas

– Samuha Overseas Development Association (SODA)

Contact Us:

– Website: globalphysio.ca

– E-mail: globalphysiopodcast@gmail.com

– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globalphysiopodcast/

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– Twitter: https://twitter.com/globalptpodcast