{"id":10780,"date":"2023-09-18T06:00:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T05:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/?p=10780"},"modified":"2023-09-14T06:15:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T05:15:17","slug":"greening-the-curriculum-opinions-and-barriers-to-sustainable-health-education-for-physiotherapists-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/2023\/09\/18\/greening-the-curriculum-opinions-and-barriers-to-sustainable-health-education-for-physiotherapists-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Greening the Curriculum: Opinions and Barriers to Sustainable Health Education for Physiotherapists: Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keywords: Physiotherapy education, sustainable healthcare, barriers to change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction <\/b>
\n<\/span>Sustainable health education (SHE) in physiotherapy is emerging, with eighty-five education institutions currently incorporating an element of it in their physiotherapy curriculums globally [1]. This blog will outline a recent undergraduate study into the opinions of physiotherapy students and graduates from the University of Nottingham (UoN) on SHE, <\/span>available here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is this study important?<\/b>
\n<\/span>Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, yet paradoxically, healthcare is responsible for 5% of carbon emissions in the UK [4]. Research shows that healthcare professionals (HCPs) lack knowledge of the relationship between planetary and human health, and understanding this relationship can lead to positive changes in clinicians\u2019 practices, policies, and patient care [3, 5, 6]. To tackle this, the field of environmental physiotherapy has been developed [7, 8, 9, 10] and some universities have started to incorporate SHE into their physiotherapy curriculums [1]. The University of Nottingham is planning to do this in its recently accredited programme, by beginning modules such as \u201cHealth in Society\u201d, \u201cPopulation Health and Wellbeing\u201d and \u201cSustainable Health\u201d. This study explored the opinions of students and graduates on this idea and <\/span>identified<\/span> barriers to change. By addressing these barriers, the university can optimise the chances of engagement with SHE in the future [2].<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Figure 1<\/span><\/i> Picture by <\/span><\/i>Greg Rosenke<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

What did we do?<\/b>
\n<\/span>This study designed, piloted, and shared an online study to gain knowledge of student and graduate opinions on the topic outlined. 34 students and 11 graduates responded to the questionnaire. Results were then analysed descriptively, using statistics and frequencies to describe quantitative data and thematic coding to share qualitative data. All types of data were used to identify barriers to the implementation of SHE into the curriculum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What did the study find?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n