Physiotherapy Pain Association (PPA) Patient Representatives Christine P (Tina) and Louise Trewern are launching PIPPA (Patient Involvement in the PPA), a group for patients and carers who are interested in shaping and informing the work of the PPA.
Physiotherapy can help people living with long term pain to develop skills to manage symptoms, increase activity levels and improve overall quality of life. The Physiotherapy Pain Association is honoured to have two patient representatives on the Executive Committee and they are passionate about ensuring the patient voice informs the work of the PPA.
You can view a short video interview with Christine and Louise here.
Louise described her motivation for getting involved with the PPA, "Physiotherapy has played a big part in my journey with pain over the last 3 years. I imagine many people have seen a physiotherapist at one time or another following an injury, and been given a series of exercises to do that will help recovery, and most people probably think that’s all a physiotherapist does. It’s not!!"
"When I went into hospital to come off opioids I was 25 stone and quite immobile. Once the medication had been sorted out I began to access the various seminars that the Pain Rehab team offered and this is when I really discovered the vast array of talents that Physiotherapists have! This is from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and explains what a physiotherapist is and I suspect many people will be surprised by how much more they do!"
Both Christine and Louise believe physiotherapy is an essential component of healthcare for people experiencing complex pain. They recognise the diversity of support physiotherapists offer when tailoring rehabilitation to individuals with complex pain.
Christine “Four years into my journey with persistent pain I was taught to understand pain, and how to self-manage my pain, by a physiotherapist. That learning was life-changing for me. I really do believe that physiotherapists can be a key player in supporting people living with pain. I recently started writing about my experiences with persistent pain, and my experiences with physiotherapy. My blogs can be found at livingwellpain.net and some are promoted on the PPA website. I am a strong advocate for physiotherapy and I write both about my good and my less good experiences with physiotherapy. I am sure there is much to learn from my experiences of physiotherapy, as there is from yours. I believe that feeding all our thoughts and experiences into PIPPA, and thereby the PPA, can help make physiotherapy even better for those of us living with pain.”
PIPPA is an opportunity for interested patients and carers to be involved in guiding and influencing this professional network. Members could be asked to take part in surveys to give opinion about certain aspects of physiotherapy. Some members may want to take part in discussions about particular topics. Maybe members would like to write about experiences with physiotherapy (good or bad) for the PPA Blog?
This is a brand new group and we welcome ideas and suggestions to develop PIPPA.
For further information click here. To join, subscribe to PIPPA.
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