NATIONAL CONGRESS & COUNCIL Pretoria, 22 to 24 April 1991 diagnose, to accept those patients who can respond to physiotherapy treatment and to refer to other health professionals those who either cannot benefit or who need additional treatment outside the scope of physiotherapy. Most physiotherapists have proven themselves willing and capable of accepting this responsibility - but why is it so often taken to apply only to private practice? Consider the needs of the country! Why are we not offering our services at primary contact level in local authority clinics and polyclinics? Why are we not looking a t com m unity diagnosis in ru ral and p eri-u rb an areas? I am saddened that, at an international level, WCPT-Africa has so far not proved equal to the task of combining its resources to the benefit of patients in Africa. The encouraging progress made in Bulawayo in September last year, when so many common problems were identified and when consensus was reached on a C harter for the Region, has been blocked by the inability of two member-organi- sations to take part in the activities of the Region. To quote again from Ruth Wood1 “Before making any decision we must first ask ‘What benefits or detriments will the patient derive from this deci­ sion?’ We must subscribe to the theory that what is good for the patient is good for the physical therapist is good for the Association, and thus is good for the profession. To rearrange that series in a way that puts the physical therapist o r the Association before the patient can only invite disaster”. Sadly, this appears to be the case. In conclusion, I am proud and honoured to have been involved in many of the Society’s activities over the last decade - in the d e v e lo p m e n t o f th e s p e c ia lisa tio n an d q u a lity a s s u ra n c e p r o ­ grammes, in political statem ents made in the interests o f our patients and colleagues, in the beginnings (however tentative) of WCPT-Af­ rica. I would have been still more proud had we been able to formulate and present to this Congress a long-term physiotherapy health care plan in answer to our country’s needs. This is the chal­ lenge facing the incoming National Executive Committee. The chal­ lenge facing Council this coming weekend is to make quite sure that we, as a professional association, associate ourselves with the em er­ gent new South Africa and with the needs and aspirations of its people. REFER ENC ES 1. Wood R. Twenty-Third Mary McMillan Lecture: Footprints. Phys Ther 1989;69:975-980. 2. Peat M. President’s Address, CPA Congress, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Physiother Canada 1983;35:262-264. 3. Moore DM. Specialisation - professional growth o r fragmentation? Physiother Canada 1978;30:249-252. 4. Moore DM. Founders Address, Australian College o f Physiotherapists: Fifth Presentation of Fellows, Perth, W. Australia. Austral Jnl Physiother 1985;31:57-60.* SUMMARY OF CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS Three days of often stimulating and thought provoking papers and workshops were presented to the participants at this congress. A wide variety of workshops were provided by a number of overseas speakers and local physiotherapists. Key-note addresses were d e­ livered by specialists from abroad and thirty-nine papers were given by physiotherapists, one by a chiropractor and one by a homeopath. A special poster session was provided which demonstrated that these poster presentations are considered as important as the d e­ livery of papers. The Poster Session • J Doubell a private practitioner urged all physiotherapists, whether in private o r hospital practice, to make more use of hydrotherapy. • J A C Gilder demonstrated the cardboard seat insets which were developed and manufactured at Lentegeur Hospital. It has been shown that these insets enable handicapped persons to sit up and thus improve their level of functional ability. • S Irwin-Carruthers of the University of Stellenbosch depicted a process of clinical specialisation as an alternative to academic post-graduate degrees. The steps involved in the design o f the process and the functions o f the College Council and Specialty Boards were shown. • R Henn, M Tout and J van de Merwe of the Rand Mutual Hospital demonstrated the range o f adaptations that injured miners made to their homes and environment to ensure inde­ pendence. • R Vos of the Karl B rem er Hospital presented an economical wheelchair and explained the development of this very useful chair. • A Wenham, a private practitioner demonstrated through a series of photographs how care of posture in babies can be included in post-natal classes. • M Wilson, a private practitioner had a video which dem on­ strated the use of martial arts as a therapeutic modality in the rehabilitation of brain injured persons. ABSTRACTS PLANNING OF CEREBRAL PALSY MANAGEMENT BASED ON LOCOMOTOR PROGNOSIS by F M Bischof, United Cerebral Patsy Association, Johannesburg AIM: To establish the locomotor prognosis of the cerebral palsied child in order to set guidelines for physical management METHOD; Certain predictive measures have been documented in the literature, which can be applied in the assessment of the young cerebral palsied child to prognosticate whether he will be able to walk or not. Three case studies will be presented describing the use o f these measures, and the subsequent implications to treatm ent of children assessed at the Townsview Cerebral Palsy Clinic. RESULTS: Realistic long- and short-term goals o f treatm ent could be defined The type of orthopaedic intervention and the objectives thereof Physiotherapy, August 1991 Vol 41 no 3 could be clarified The parents could be counselled early about a predictable future for their child CONCLUSION: Planning of the treatm ent of the cerebral palsied individual is optimised when based on the locomotor prognosis. A MODEL FOR THE PHYSIOTHERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH SPINAL DYSFUNCTION by R G Botha H F Verwoerd Hospital, University o f Pretoria The confines of the field within which the Physiotherapist is working is given. This is defined as that area o f function which concerns itself with the usability of an intact morphological structure. In order to evaluate this entity a holistic approach is necessary. This entails an evaluation of Mobility, Pain and Muscle Integrity. These Continued on page 55... Page 47 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. )