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physio
austria
inform
Februar 2016
Themenschwerpunkt
100 Jahre Physiotherapie in Österreich
Congratulatory message
to the physiotherapists in Austria celebrating 100 years
It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the
Executive Committee of the European Region
of the World Confederation for Physiotherapy
(ER-WCPT) to offer members of Physio Austria
many congratulations on achieving 100 years
of physiotherapy in Austria in 2016.
Physiotherapy has always grown and developed as a
result of meeting the challenges of the »war wounded«,
and with two major World Wars during the last 100 years
physiotherapists in Austria have faced and overcome simi-
lar challenges to the benefit of the patients in their care.
Physio Austria became a member of the World Confedera-
tion for Physical Therapy (WCPT) in 1967 and played an
active part at the Conference in Estoril, Portugal, in 1998
between the then WCPT ER and the Standing Liaison
Committee (SLCP) for physiotherapists in Europe.
The outcome was the formation of the now ER-WCPT.
For a small country, physiotherapists in Austria have
always played a pro-active part in the organisation by
raising the profile of physiotherapy in Europe and we are
grateful to those who are currently active and those who
have been active in the past.
In 2012, Physio Austria hosted the 3rd ER-WCPT European
Education Conference in Vienna, Austria on 8 to 9
November 2012. The organisation worked very hard to
promote the Congress and the differently coloured cotton
bags advertising the Congress were a »must have« at
the 2011 WCPT Congress in Amsterdam. A total of 600
participants from forty-eight countries were present at
the conference entitled »Advancing the professional pro-
file – Continuing Professional Development to promote
Evidence Based Physiotherapy«. The European Region
of the WCPT arranged a post Congress Seminar on phy-
siotherapy education for delegates from the Member
Organisations in Vienna, Austria on 10 November 2012.
A total of 36 delegates from twenty Member Organisati-
ons were present. The aim of the seminar was to analyse
the 3rd European Congress on Physiotherapy Education
and to discuss the implications for further work to be de-
veloped by the Working Groups of the European Region
of the WCPT. I would particularly like to thank Stefan
Moritz and Silvia Mériaux-Kratochvila for having worked
so hard on the 3rd European Education Congress, and
ensured its’ success. I would also like to thank them for
having welcomed and hosted meetings of all three
Working Groups and the ER-WCPT Executive in the offices
of Physio Austria in the past.
At the last meeting of the ER-WCPT Executive in Vienna in
November 2015, the Executive Committee had the oppor-
tunity to participate in a dinner to thank those Austrian
colleagues collaborating in voluntary basis with the asso-
ciation to the benefit of the physiotherapy profession.
One of the main discussions taking place between the
volunteers was self-referral to physiotherapists especially
those in the musculoskeletal field of practice. The Chair-
man and the 1st Vice Chairman gave presentations about
the ER-WCPT structure, actions for Member Organisations
and their physiotherapists, and about the ER-WCPT ac-
tions at EU level with special focus on European Skills
Competences and Occupations (ESCO) and the European
Professional Card projects.
Currently four members of Physio Austria are involved
internationally through ER-WCPT Working Groups and
the Executive Committee: Nicole Muzar is a member of
the Professional Issues Working Group, Silke Gruber is a
member of the Education Matters Working Group and
Silvia Mériaux-Kratochvila is a member of the European
Union Matters Working Group. All attended the Joint
Working Group meeting in Cyprus in September 2015,
and played an active part in the discussions and the
preparation for the next General Meeting to be held in
Limassol, Cyprus, in April 2016. Gerhard Eder is the
European Region’s Executive Treasurer and in this role
has written to all the 38 Member Organisations within
the Region and overseen the collection of the annual
subscriptions to ER-WCPT, as well as participating in
the discussions at Committee meetings.
Sarah Bazin, OBE, FCSP Chair of the European Region
.
of the World Confederation for Physiotherapy (ER-WCPT)
.
Seit wann sind PhysiotherapeutInnen
im Bereich der Psychiatrie tätig?
In Tirol sind in Hall und Innsbruck
PhysiotherapeutInnen seit 1987/1988
im Bereich Psychiatrie tätig. Schon
1912 wurde im damaligen »Nerven-
krankenhaus« in Hall aber erkannt,
dass PatientInnen nicht nur »ruhig
gestellt« werden sollen, es sollte auch,
wie in den damaligen Akten vermerkt,
für »geistige Unterhaltung und Erheite-
rung« gesorgt werden. Es wurden auch
Spiele verschiedener Art wie Billard,
Brettspiele, Kegelbahn, gemeinsame
Ausgänge sowie eine Bibliothek
angeboten.
1987
1988
1. Kongress der diplomierten
Assistentinnen für physikali-
sche Medizin mit ca. 700
TeilnehmerInnen in Wien.
1975