EDITORIA I______________________ by J C Beenhakker A v e ry successful C o n g ress is once again behind us. M embers of the con gress com m ittees are to be con gratu lated on the high stand ard o f p ap ers d elivered and w orkshops p rov ided and on the sm ooth run nin g rff the acad em ic and social events, inspite of the m an y behind the scene hassles. In the op en ing ad d ress, P rofessor J A llan stressed the n eed for continuing ed ucation an d of the im p ortance of such con gresses as well as for reg ular w o rk sh o p s and cou rses. All practitioners and teachers need p eriod ic refresher p ro g ram m es b ecause o u r p ra c­ tice is con stan tly ch an g in g and w e n eed to look ahead to ensure the relev ance of o u r profession. Professor A llan w arn ed that w e need to act on w h at w e have learned and ensu re that the n ew ly acqu ired ideas are n o t fo rg ot­ ten. H e stressed that self ed u catio n is n o t a passive m atter but requires the critical ap p lication of on e's m ind to the specific subject. Self stu d y is acco m p an ied b y "w o n d erin g , p on dering, d ream in g and sp ecu latin g " in attem p ting to clarify problem s. In the p ast, the E ditorial B oard has urged its read ers to u nd er­ take clinical trials and to w rite these up so that this know ledge m ay benefit oth er p ractitio n ers. A s P rofessor A llan says, p ractice and stu d y should g o hand in hand an d that b y im p ro vin g o n e's ob serv atio n an d re c o r d in g skills and in creasin g o u r u n d e r­ stand ing o f w h a t w e are doing, the stan d ard of clinical practice will be raised. The p re and p o st co n g ress w orksh op s w ere w ell atten ded and p artid p ants gained a g re a t d eal from the co n tact w ith the overseas visitors. Besides h o n in g their technical skills in P rofessor R o ca- b ad o 's tw o w ork sh op s, p articip an ts w ere able to im p ro ve their practice in resp irato ry ca re throu gh Dr Sue Jenkins. E d u catio n a­ lists, both a cad em ic a n d clinical, w ere on ce again given n ew ideas by M rs Shula W e rn e r w h ile the im p ortant area of com m un ity- based rehabilitation w a s ad d ressed by M rs H elen M yezw a. H o w ­ ever, the m ajority of the p ap ers and w orksh op s w ere presented WORLD TRENDS IN PHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH NTHE1980S by Jeanette Mitchell D epartm ent o f P h y sio th erap y , U niv ersity o f W itw atersran d The valu e of research in the p h y sio therapy profession has been em p h asised m o re, as the p ro fessio n al an d scientific role of phy sio th erap y is questioned ,2'3'4'5'<’'7. R esearch is published regularly in p h y sio therapy journals. In ord er to follow the w o rld trend s in p h y sio th erapy research, from 1980 to 1989, a s u rv e y of journals of five E nglish-sp eaking cou n ­ tr ie s , n a m e l y P h y s i o t h e r a p y (B r i t a i n ) , P h y s i c a l T h e r a p y (A m erica), P h y sio th e ra p y C a n a d a , the A ustralian Journal of P h y sio th erapy and the South A frican Journal of P hysiotherapy, w as carried out. These jou rn als w ere taken to be rep resen tative of those m o st co m m o n ly read by p hysiotherapists, although it is u nderstood that not all research co n d u cted m ay be rep orted in them . O n ly the p rin cip al p ap ers published w ere review ed, w ith p articu lar reference to the subject, acad em ic qualifications of first authors and research design used. A total of 21 7 8 p ap ers w ere rev iew ed. The m o st com m on ly rep orted research co n cern ed the m u sculoskeletal s y s te m /th e ra p y (23% of p ap ers) and e d u c a tio n /a d m in istra tio n (19% ). Little re­ search in p aed iatrics (8%) and geriatrics (2% ) w as published. This by local speak ers w h o are to be co n g ratu lated on the high levels achieved in the fields of E d u catio n , C linical P ractice, C o m m u n ity H ealth and M anagem ent. The 20th G eneral M eeting of the N ation al C oun cil p receded con gress and once again lively discussion and debate en su ed . The C ouncil w as opened by P rofessor E T M ok gok on g, P rincipal and V ice C han cellor of M edunsa. P rofessor M ok go k on g ech o ed our feelings w h en he suggested th at w e should not be classified as Allied M edical o r S up p lem entary H ealth W o rk ers as p hy sio ther­ apists are professionals in their ow n rights, an d n o t allied to an y o th er group. H e outlined so m e facts ab ou t o u r p resen t health ca re system w h ich is characterised by fragm entation , u n d erfun d in g , unequal distribution, lack of equity an d ag g ressiv e p riv atisatio n . For exam ple, although the ten h om elan d s co m p rise 44% o f the total p opulation of South A frica, th ey w ere on ly allocated 29% of the national health bud get. P rofessor M ok gok ong felt th at the root cause of ou r difficulties in h ealth ca re d eliv ery is the lack o f clarity on health ca re plann ing an d q uoted the d iv erg en t policies of the go vern m ent, A N C and others. H e su p p o rts a m o del o f health care w hich entrenches central state con trol an d regional health board s w hich w ou ld regulate health and social serv ices from p rim ary throu gh to tertiary services. H e finally u rg ed p hy sio th erap ists to consid er their future role in health ca re an d to en su re that w e rem ain relevant. M an y im p ortan t resolution s w ere a p p ro v e d at C oun cil w h ich will hopefully steer the Society on a n ew p ath and an im p ro ved w a y of functioning. It is tru sted that C oun cil m em b ers w ere stim ulated b y the rep orts read and d iscussio n s h eld, an d will be eag er to take these back to their Bran ches and G ro u p s so that all m em bers of the Society m ay sh are in these d eliberations. It is only by com m un icatin g w ith one an oth er th at w e will build u n d er­ stand ing an d tolerance of o u r v ariou s v iew s an d d iv erse cultures. A p rofessional society w h ich ch an g es wi th the tim es and m eets its com m itm en ts to its m em bers and sh ares w ith th em w ill be a vibrant one and can only gain in stren gth . The Editorial Board w ishes the C h airm an , M rs F ran ces G lauber and her N ational E xecu tiv e C o m m ittee vision to see w h at needs to be d on e and the co u ra g e to m ak e ch an g es w h ich are in keeping w ith the needs of its m em bers and to society in gen eral. is su rp risin g as both topics a re related to co m m u n ity -b ased p h y sio therapy in w hich there is a g ro w in g interest. A lthough m an y of the first au th o rs w ere still p hy sio th erap ists w ith a diplom a only (16% of p ap ers), m o re first au th o rs h ad a ph y sio therapy qualification plus an h on ou rs o r m asters d egree (15% ) o r w ere p o st-g rad u ates o th e r than p hy sio th erap ists (19% ). Fifty-one p er cent of p ap ers w ere d escrip tiv e w h ile 13% and 23% involved clinical trials and exp erim en tal trials respectively. Thirteen p er cen t of the articles w e re rep orts of su rv ey s carried out. A total of 35% of the p ap ers rep o rted the u se of the statistical analysis of d ata. This stu d y d em on strated an aw aren ess of the need for and attem p t at obtaining higher acad em ic s tan d ard s o f p h y sio th erapy research, in the 1980s, in these countries. 1. Basmajian JV. Research or retrench: The rehabilitation professions chal­ lenged. Physical Therapy 1975;55:607-610. 2. Basmajian JV. Professional survival: The research role in physiotherapy. Physical Therapy 1977;57:283-285. 3. Campbell EDR. Introduction: The purpose of research. Physiotherapy 1970;56:480-481. 4. Fow ler WM. P h y sical th erap y .and re search . Physical Therapy 1969;49:977-982. 5. Gowland C & Clarke B. Research: Why bother! Physiotherapy Ca- nada,32.270-274. 6. Lee JM. Why aren't you doing research? Physiotherapy 1978;64:149-150. 7. Van Leewen RM. The physiotherapist and research. Physiotherapy 1970;56:497. Bladsy38 Fisioterapie, Augustus 1993 Dee! 49 No 3 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )