Technology and Physiotherapy
New Web technology is presenting the physiotherapy and physical therapy profession with increasing professional opportunities on-line that we should all make the most of.
Autonomous Learning and Professional Development
Technology has enabled physiotherapists and other health care professionals to take control of their own learning and professional development. Many of us now have laptops and smart phones that enable us to learn from the Web at times that suit us and in a more cost effective way. Additionally advances in Web technology such as RSS feeds and aggregators, on-line courses, blogs and wikis allow us to make our on-line learning far more focused and specific to our own learning needs.
Networking and Collaboration
New Web technology such as social networking, blogging, wikis and content sharing sites have enabled us to participate in building content, networks and communities on-line. This has provided us with the opportunity to meet and collaborate with like minded colleagues remotely and intentionally.
Participatory medicine
Technology such as social networking sites, e-mail, personal health records, home monitoring devices and patient portals have made communication between the patient and their health care professional not only more convenient but also more meaningful. Patients are able to do more independent research, making them better informed. Technology even can allow health care professionals to monitor a patient’s health without a visit to the office, creating more time to see other patients.
Developing countries
Developing countries face steady growth in the prevalence of chronic diseases, along with a continued burden from communicable diseases. “Mobile” health, or m-health—the use of mobile technologies such as cellular phones to support public health and clinical care—offers promise in responding to both types of disease burdens. Mobile technologies are widely available and can play an important role in health care at the regional, community, and individual levels.
Profile building
The evolution of social media has presented us with the opportunity to promote our work, research, products and clinics at very little cost. By engaging with applications such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube we can broadcast information to promote our business as well as using these tools to enhance customer relations.
Promoting the profession
The opportunity for all members of our profession to have a voice has never been greater. Not only can professional organisations set up a social media strategy to promote their cause but individuals can also use social media to positively promote the profession. Imagine if we all took a bit of responsibility to do something to promote the profession: a few tweets on what we do and how we can help the public (join the physiotherapy network on Twitter), a blog highlighting evidence based practice (become an author on Physiospot), contribute to a professional wiki to build knowledge (contribute to Physiopedia)…. we could develop a global understanding of our profession between ourselves as well as among our clients, the public.
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