The importance of research and documentation in Psychiatric Physiotherapy

The importance of research and documentation in Psychiatric Physiotherapy Michel Probst KU Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences & UPC-KU Leuven, campus Kortenberg, Belgium Michel.probst@faber.kuleuven.be The field of mental health is currently an import policy issue. The World Health Organisation (WHO), the European commission, and different national governments are engaged in the prevention and treatment of mental health disorders. Today, one out of four people are faced with a mental dysfunction. Physiotherapy is a relative new, small, but fast developing field in both the clinical and scientific area of mental health. The past ten years physiotherapists developed a wide range of clinical measures and treatment approaches to establish the role of physiotherapy in mental health. Currently there is sufficient evidence that physiotherapy, with his specific approach and therapeutic interventions, has a major contribution to wellbeing and mental health. In mental health care, physiotherapists are focused on the biospsychosocial facets of the ‘body in action’. This bodily-directed approach is important within a psychiatric setting as pain and other somatic complaints are recurrent complaints in mental health disorders like depression, anxiety and posttraumatic disorders. Exercise, body awareness and relaxation are import issues in the treatment and rehabilitation process of these disorders. Physiotherapists are in the unique position to provide an extensive range physical approached that aim at symptom relief, confidence boosting and improvement of quality of life. If physiotherapists want to be successful as one of the mental health services, it is a condition sine qua non to further develop high quality and innovatory clinical practice, education, research in agreement with the recommendations of the declaration of the WHO in 2005. These recommendations translated into the field of physiotherapy are for the clinical practice, education and research respectively: - Physiotherapists have (1) to improve physiotherapy mental health care and (2) organize specific physiotherapy care for different ages including children, adolescents and elderly and risk-related groups as persons with eating disorders, psychotic disorders,… Physiotherapists have (3) to ensure access to primary care for people with mental health problems and (4) provide treatment in 'community-based physiotherapy services for persons with severe mental health problems. - In general, physiotherapy schools have (5) to disseminate quality information about mental health and (6) to promote mental health, because mental health and wellbeing are fundamental to the quality of life of all citizens. Physiotherapy students have (7) to be informed in regard of the combat against stigmatisation and discrimination of persons with mental health problems. Specialized education in physiotherapy has (8) to provide adequate and competent professionals in physiotherapy (9) that are able to participate and engage in a multidisciplinary approach. - At least, physiotherapists have (10) to engage in evaluating the effectiveness of the physiotherapy care and promoting new evidence-based guidelines. This presentation wants to reach some anchor points for professionalizing and developing physiotherapy research in mental health.status: publishe