Advancing Environmental Stewardship in Physical Therapy: Connect, Learn, Act

Abstract

Human health is predicated on 4.5 bn years of Earth history, including the gradual build of oxygen by cyanobacteria enabling the development of multicellular lifeforms, the formation of Earth's ozone layer and the subsequent emergence of plant and animal life, several extinction events, and 60 mio years of hominid evolution. These developments were necessary to create the environmental conditions characteristic of the Holocene epoch-a relatively warm and stable climate, stable geological conditions, a high degree of biodiversity, and the pervasiveness of extensive, biodiverse habitats-that have enabled and supported human life, health, and civilizations as we know them today. 1 Unchecked economic growth, production, and consumption building on colonial and extractive industries have now destabilized the environmental conditions essential for human life and health. Climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, human-driven change of 75% of earth's land surface, the loss of 85% of global wetlands, and pervasive air, water, soil, and plastic pollution are the major markers of today's environmental crisis. These environmental changes are already driving one-quarter of the worldwide burden of diseases and onequarter of all human deaths each year amid increasing the frequency and severity of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), infectious and vector-borne diseases, mental trauma and physical injury, and adverse effects on human physical activity around the world. 2

The environmental impact of health care for musculoskeletal conditions: A scoping review

“…Of those relating to orthopaedic surgery; three discussed a need for orthopaedic surgery to adopt sustainable practices [ 121 , 125 , 126 ]; two discussed strategies for reducing the environmental impact of hand surgery [ 120 , 122 ]; one focused on the benefits of regional anaesthesia in place of inhaled volatile anaesthetic gases [ 124 ]; one discussed the reuse of undamaged surgical screws or prostheses opened but not used during surgery [ 123 ]; one discussed recycling of metal implants posthumously [ 117 ]; and one reported the total weight of waste from 1,099 unspecified hand surgeries, but no methods were reported [ 127 ]. Of those discipline-specific editorials, nine discussed the environmental impact of physiotherapy and the role of the profession in reducing it [ 109 – 111 , 113 – 116 , 118 , 119 ], two discussed how podiatrists can engage with the community to drive sustainable practice [ 107 , 108 ], and one outlined strategies for occupational therapists to approach climate change [ 112 ].…”

“…There were 21 editorials with authors from 13 countries; Australia [107][108][109][110][111], Brazil [109], Canada [112], Germany [109], Greece [109], India [113,114], New Zealand [109,115], Norway [109,111,114,116], Pakistan [109], Sweden [109,117,118], Switzerland [109,119], United Kingdom [100,109,117,[120][121][122] and United States [109,116,[123][124][125][126][127]. There were four narrative reviews, two from the United States [128,129] and one each from India [130] and the United Kingdom [131].…”

Australian physiotherapists' knowledge and views on the relationship between climate change, health, and physiotherapy

“…Given that EPA was an unknown resource to most participants, there is also an opportunity to raise awareness of EPA's work and collaborate and co-create shared resources. specifically the connection between physiotherapy and planetary health, physiotherapists can implement environmentally sustainable physiotherapy practices (Maric et al, 2022;Padhy, 2021). Physiotherapists can also promote using active transport with their patients, which could contribute to planetary health as well as human health by increasing physical activity (Stanhope et al, 2021;Toner et al, 2021).…”

“…At the individual physiotherapist level, the survey results demonstrate the need for greater education and training to increase knowledge about climate change and its health impacts within the physiotherapy profession. With increased knowledge about the relationship between climate change and human health, and specifically the connection between physiotherapy and planetary health, physiotherapists can implement environmentally sustainable physiotherapy practices (Maric et al., 2022; Padhy, 2021). Physiotherapists can also promote using active transport with their patients, which could contribute to planetary health as well as human health by increasing physical activity (Stanhope et al., 2021; Toner et al., 2021).…”

New Year, New Volume, New Cover, Same High-Quality Relevant Research

“…In this issue, we are proud to present you several perspectives of our cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy field. First, Todd Davenport's group 1 offer an important perspective on the world environmental crisis and how it affects human health. This topic, which is not a new challenge but might have been hidden behind the COVID-19 pandemic for 2 years, has been brought back to the attention of the biomedical research community by publishing a climate emergency editorial in more than 100 biomedical journals around the world, including the APTA's flagship journal Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal.…”