Acupuncture and other techniques using needles are interventions that physiotherapists are authorized to use for the treatment of pain and other symptoms or as a measure to improve health. 3

Animal rehabilitation requires education in animal anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, histology, neurology and pathology.

Physiotherapists who work in animal rehabilitation focus primarily on the physical health and function of canine and equine clients.

Physiotherapists fulfill a lead role in cardiovascular (heart) and pulmonary (lung) rehabilitation, which includes the management of patients with early- to advanced-stage heart disease and lung disease.

For example, a physiotherapist working in pulmonary rehabilitation will prescribe therapeutic exercise, give guidance for your self-management, and offer psychosocial support, including smoking-cessation support and motivation for safely increasing your physical activity.

Similarly, physiotherapists are skilled to manage acute and chronic cardiovascular conditions and will work with you to help improve the function and capacity of your cardiorespiratory system.

Through specific breathing and secretion techniques, resistance training and therapeutic exercise prescription, your physiotherapist will help you to maintain or regain your functional independence.

Canadian physiotherapists are celebrated as leaders in global health, recognized for their particular strengths in adaptability, communication, collaboration, education, training and teaching. 4

In remote areas and underdeveloped countries, Canadian physiotherapists apply their training and skills to the task of reducing human suffering and improving local health care delivery systems to respond better to community needs. 5 This experience not only benefits communities beyond our borders but enriches physiotherapy practice in Canada by expanding the cultural awareness and sensitivity of our physiotherapist community. 6

For example, Nepal is faced with an acute shortage of physiotherapists, with less than 100 qualified professionals helping a population of more than 26 million. Health care leaders in Nepal recently turned to Canadian physiotherapists to help them develop a four-and-a-half year university program that will significantly advance the quality of care provided in the country.

Physiotherapists fulfill important roles in multidisciplinary health care teams and many physiotherapists choose to give leadership to their peers and, more broadly, to the Canadian health care system.

Physiotherapist leaders take time to understanding when, where and how many physiotherapists are needed, which physiotherapy practices are most efficient, how to deliver physiotherapy to the public in the most cost-effective manner, and what physiotherapist interventions result in the best outcomes.

Physiotherapists understand your body's neurological system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and central and peripheral nervous systems. This broad knowledge enables physiotherapists to help clients of all ages optimize their physical health, as well as prevent, adapt to, or compensate for, neurological conditions affecting movement and functional independence. 7

Among the common neurological conditions treated by physiotherapists are childhood developmental delay, stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.

Physiotherapists see the ability and potential in all clients.

Physiotherapists are increasingly included on inter-professional health care teams working with people living with cancer. With experience in cardiorespiratory, neurology, and musculoskeletal conditions, physiotherapists are well prepared to assess and treat complications arising from current cancer treatment as well as chronic symptoms post-treatment.8

Physiotherapists also work in palliative care centres to ensure that every person remains in the highest level of mobility, with the least amount of pain, and in the best quality of life at all times.

Physiotherapy intervention may include manual techniques, exercise,9,10 and pain management. You may also receive assistance with breathing techniques, positioning, and general mobility. A physiotherapist will also focus on your ability to safely perform your activities of daily living.

In oncology, physiotherapists develop skills to help you and your family, and they can be a great resource to help you improve your overall well-being and quality of life.

Your mobility relies in large part on having musculoskeletal joints in good working order. Physiotherapists that work in orthopaedics have a special interest in bone and joint health and are often central figures in returning patients to normal levels of physical function.

If you have been injured in a joint, have a bone or joint disease, or are scheduled for surgery of the hand, arm, hip or leg, you will likely be seen by an orthopaedic physiotherapist. Your physiotherapy treatment program may focus on injury prevention, injury management, or post-surgery rehabilitation.

Your orthopaedic physiotherapist will help you get moving again.

Physiotherapists have in-depth knowledge of the body and its systems, including specific knowledge of how the body develops from birth into adolescence and adulthood.

Physiotherapists working with children apply specialized clinical evaluative skills to the task of assessing a variety of conditions, from developmental delays, to congenital conditions, deformities and physical limitations. Physiotherapists also manage injury and illness in children of all ages, at all levels of ability.

The child's physiotherapist will focus treatment on optimizing movement and functional independence, with care and consideration to maximizing the full potential of the child's growing mind and body.

Physiotherapists are increasingly involved in the evidence-informed, non-pharmaceutical management of pain. With education in neurology, pathology, movement sciences, and human physiology, physiotherapists are uniquely positioned to understand mechanisms of pain 11 and provide pain relief through various hands-on techniques and applied modalities.

Physiotherapists understand that the pain a client feels can vary from person to person and does not necessarily reflect the underlying injury or illness. 12

Your physiotherapist will adopt a holistic approach to pain management and consider the impact of pain on your lifestyle and social relationships as part of your assessment and treatment plan.

Thirty-nine per cent of physiotherapists in Canada choose to work in private practice in their communities. 13 As a result, most Canadians are able to quickly access physiotherapy services, in convenient, community locations, by direct access, without a referral.14

Most private practitioners accept new patients and are available to treat a broad range of conditions in clients of all ages.

Physiotherapy is an essential primary health care service that many older adults will benefit from.

Physiotherapists that work exclusively with older adults seek to improve your quality of life by ensuring that you can perform daily tasks as freely and independently as possible.

As key members of multidisciplinary health care teams, physiotherapists advocate for patient-centred care, articulating the ways and means to give ageing clients a voice in their health care decisions. 15

Canadian sport physiotherapists help people of all ages and abilities, from the weekend warrior to the Olympic athlete, by assessing, diagnosing, treating, and educating clients that are passionate about their physical performance and athletic pursuits.

The sport physiotherapist's work will include pre-season screening of your physical function, athletic training program development, exercise prescription to improve your performance and endurance, physical education and preventive care, and injury assessment and rehabilitation.

Physiotherapists are active in treating a range of women's health needs, e.g. aspects of pre- and post-natal care, complications of breast cancer, and management of osteoporosis, pelvic pain and urinary incontinence.

Women have come to trust the training and expertise offered by physiotherapists. In a recent national survey, two-thirds of Canadian women 40 years of age and older were likely to seek out physiotherapy care for themselves or recommend their physiotherapist to a friend. 16