Physiopedia:About
Wikipedia for the global physiotherapy profession![edit | edit source]
We educate physiotherapists all over the world. We advocate for the physiotherapy profession. Physiotherapy information for anyone, anywhere.
Physiopedia is a UK based charity that brings value to the global Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy profession with its free, open continually updating knowledge resource. This living, community edited website is now the largest Physiotherapy resource in the world. The site currently gets over 2 million visits from over nearly every country in the world every month!
In addition to providing this open knowledge resource the Physiopedia charity also provides free online courses. These courses provide accessible education and professional development all around the globe. The 2016 course on managing children with cerebral palsy had over 14,000 registrations from 179 countries!
Read about:
There are many ways to contribute to this community effort to share physiotherapy knowledge to everyone, everywhere:
The Physiopedia Story[edit | edit source]
In 2007 the e-learning community was going mad for wiki's and it was at an e-learning conference that Rachael was inspired to build a 'Wikipedia for the physiotherapy profession'.
"Wouldn't it be great if all physiotherapists around the world were constantly creating and updating content to build one constantly evolving online textbook for our profession".
In 2008 with no particular plan Rachael and Tony set about implementing this idea as a small side project along side the e-learning work that they were doing together. The project launched quietly in January 2009 with three pages of content that Rachael had written herself. It wasn't long before universities around the world were engaging their students to contribute content to grow the resource. Now individual Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists from all areas of the profession are taking part in building this resource.
"We've proved that Physiopedia is a resource valued by our profession so we invite members of this profession to help us make it a sustainable project for the future".
Keeping Physiopedia non-commercial and finding a sustainable way to do this that the profession was happy with was important to Rachael and Tony. Partnerships with educational institutions, professional organisations and NGOs became the focus of attention and many groups engaged to contribute content and provide financial support.
Through the unique combination of clinical, educational and technical skills that Rachael and Tony have, in 2014 they launched Physioplus. This related premium content area provides online continuing education and professional development opportunities in exchange for an annual modest contribution. The annual subscription income from this service contributes to funding the Physiopedia charity.
What started as a bit of fun, Physiopedia is the largest Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy website in the world, it is the largest provider of online Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy education, and it is a community driven project for our profession and everyone is invited to get involved.
Mission[edit | edit source]
Improving global health through universal access to physiotherapy knowledge.
Vision[edit | edit source]
We aspire to gather the sum of all Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy knowledge and make this freely available to all.
Everyone has knowledge to share, so let's not hide it let's share it! All Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists are invited to participate in this collaborative project to build a continually evolving, evidenced based knowledge resource that will be openly and freely accessible to all across the world. Through this collaborative effort we aim to be the leading independent resource for the Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy profession.
We strive to reach and involve every Physiotherapist and Physical Therapist in the world.
Technology allows us to do amazing things! With our innovative and bespoke online platform we will have the potential to extend the Physiopedia project to Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists all over the world, in resourced and less resourced, remote and accessible countries alike.
We aim to foster international collaboration to empower the global Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy profession.
As a wiki, Physiopedia is perfectly suited to collaborative group authoring and can be edited by anyone with credentials in the Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy community. With this opportunity we invite Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists from all over the world to work together on contributing to, reviewing and continually improving the Physiopedia content for everyone to learn from.
We will offer educational opportunities to Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists throughout the world.
We will provide online educational opportunities for all. For educators Physiopedia provides a platform for engaging pre and post registration students in genuine assignments to develop and share knowledge as part of a formal education programme. Clinicians can use their participation in Physiopedia as part of their ongoing professional development and educational activities. Researchers may choose to share their expertise through this open option for publication. These opportunities extend to Physiotherapists and Physical Therapists throughout the world.
We aspire to improve patient care and make a positive contribution to global health.
Through developing individual professionals across the world, either by formal educational opportunities or informal independent study, Physiopedia will contribute to advancing the knowledge of these professionals which will translate into improved patient care. This is our contribution to improving global health.
We will enable promotion of the profession among the wider health care community and the public on a global scale.
Physiopedia has the opportunity to promote the value and expertise of our profession to other health care professionals and also to educate the public on how we can help them. As a knowledge resource developed by the international Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy community it represents a truly global voice and so has the opportunity to do this on a global scale.
We will make a difference! We invite you to join us.
Values[edit | edit source]
Keep it simple. Be nice. Have fun. Make a difference.
Governance[edit | edit source]
Physiopedia is registered with the Charity Commission (registration number 1173185) and complies with the Charities Act 2011. The objects of the charity are, for the public benefit, to improve health globally by advancing education in relation to physiotherapy and improving access to physiotherapy knowledge.
Under UK law, the Physiopedia Charity is subject to section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 and operates as a company limited by guarantee and not having share capital (registration number 08530802). Physiopedia’s constitution is set out in the Articles of Association which are filed at Companies House.
The Physiopedia Trustees have responsibility for the control and direction of the affairs of the charity. The Trustees are supported in their governance function by the Advisory Council. The Trustees and Advisory Council receive no remuneration for their duties.
Detailed objectives are set to deliver against these goals in a strategic plan that is reviewed every two year period. The objectives are decided by the Trustees with priorities and aims incorporated from the Advisory Council.
