Logo UAB
2020/2021

Physiotherapy, History and Society

Code: 104100 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500892 Physiotherapy OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Monica Alcala Lorente
Email:
Monica.Alcala@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Jorge Molero Mesa
Monica Alcala Lorente
Eva de Cardona Recasens
Anyely Marin Cisneros

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The main objective of this subject is to understand the historical, social and cultural foundations of physical, natural and complementary therapies in order to acquire the elements that will allow a critical analysis of the current situation of the profession of physiotherapist in the Spanish State, and to establish a comparison with other European healthcare models.

This general objective can be broken down into four specific objectives:

  • To contextualize the origin and development of physiotherapy as a discipline, as well as its process of medicalization, while emphasizing its professional independence within the biosanitary sciences.
  • To analyse the social and cultural role of physiotherapy within multidisciplinary therapy, and to reflect on the approach of cultural, sexual and gender diversity in the physiotherapist-patient relationship from an inclusive perspective.
  • To understand how the various forms of communication related to science, medicine and technology intervene in the social construction of health-disease processes, and of the images of healthcare systems and its professionals in contemporary societies.
  • To record which health care practices are recognized as a protocol and what are found in an unknown framework between the physiotherapist and the patient. To show the theoretical bases of bioethics in physiotherapy from an innovative perspective, such as palliative physiotherapy and chronic pain.

Competences

  • Analyse and synthesise.
  • Display critical reasoning skills.
  • Display knowledge of the sciences, models, techniques and instruments around which physiotherapy is structured and developed.
  • Identify, analyse and solve ethical problems in complex situations
  • Incorporate the ethical and legal principles of the profession in professional culture.
  • Make the most correct decisions in given situations.
  • Organise and plan.
  • Solve problems.
  • Work in teams.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Address professional practice respecting patient autonomy, beliefs and culture.
  2. Analyse and synthesise.
  3. Analyze the actions of practice in physiotherapy from sociocultural perspectives.
  4. Describe and analyze different facts and historical changes, which over time have contributed to the configuration of physiotherapy as a profession and as a scientific discipline.
  5. Describe the historical foundations of the health professions in the context of medical pluralism.
  6. Develop capacity for critical reflection about the processes of health and disease in various cultural contexts in which they develop.
  7. Display critical reasoning skills.
  8. Identify and describe the different systems and models of health, including care levels where physiotherapy is incardinated.
  9. Identify the diversity of medical systems, including alternative medicines, and identify their foundations.
  10. Identify, analyse and solve ethical problems in complex situations
  11. Make the most correct decisions in given situations.
  12. Organise and plan.
  13. Recognize the states of health and disease as socially determined constructs that change according to cultures and over time.
  14. Recognize the states of health and disease as socially determined constructs, which change according to cultures and over time.
  15. Reflect critically on the scientific, ethical, political and social issues involved in performance of the physiotherapist.
  16. Respect patient participation in decisions about the health-disease process.
  17. Solve problems.
  18. The evolution of the concept of health from its cultural and historical perspective on modern and contemporary era, integrating the evolution of physiotherapy from this framework.
  19. Understanding the disease from the patient experience and the contexts in which it has developed.
  20. Work in teams.

Content

A. HISTORY, CULTURE AND PHYSIOTHERAPY

1. Disease and sickness. A historical, biological, social and cultural phenomenon

2. The origins of the experience of illness

3. The society against the disease. The medical systems

4. Disease, positivism and technology

5. Social and cultural history of physiotherapy and the rehabilitation process

6. Hydrotherapy and crenotherapy

7. Gymnastics and massage

8. Electrotherapy and radiotherapy

9. The process of medicalization and the right to health

B. PHYSIOTHERAPY, GENDER AND SOCIETY

1.Introduction to gender theory for health professions

2. Ethics, biopower and the right over one's own body

3. Physiotherapy, profession and civil responsibility

 C. COMMUNICATION, NARRATIVES, AND REPRESENTATIONS IN PHYSIOTHERAPY

1. The media in health-disease processes

2. The image in the social construction of health professions

3. The account of the contemporary experience of illness and rehabilitation

 D. THE EXPERIENCE OF ILLNESS AND CARE: PALLIATIVE CARE

1. Role of physiotherapy in palliative care

2. Care practices in the patient with chronic pain

3. Health care and emotional attention in the biosanitary system

4. Holistic and conscious attention

 E. CONCLUSIONS

Methodology

The theory sessions are organized in lectures of 2-3 hours that include discussions on topics proposed by the teachers, and establish the groundwork to be developed with specific contents in the seminars.

The seminars constitute the main structure of the subject and are developed in four sessions of 2 hours each, except the last sessions of each seminar, which include the evaluation activity and consist of 3 hours. They are based on case study and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) methods, with the aim to encourage active learning and to consolidate the critical analysis initiated in the theory sessions through the formulation of questions and discussions that, in this case, the students will propose, either in a group or well individually, from concrete experiences.

Learning activities

I. Directed activities (37 hours)

• Lectures (10 hours): distributive block A

• Seminars (27 hours): distributive blocks B, C and D

II. Supervised activities (23 hours): in all the distributive blocks

• Preparation and presentation of written works

III. Autonomous activities (75 hours): in all the distributive blocks

• Reading text and preparation (30 hours)

• Self-study (10 hours)

• Written works and oral presentations (20 hours)

• Preparation of group discussions and final debate (15 hours)

IV. Assignments: will be sent through the Moodle application on the dates previously indicated by the teachers.

• Oral presentation: distributive block B

• Individual essay: distributive block C

• Group written work: distributive block D

        • Debate script for the final session: distributive block E

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
SPECIALIZED SEMINARS (SESP) 27 1.08 1, 2, 3, 18, 4, 6, 19, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 16, 20
THEORY (TE) 10 0.4 1, 2, 3, 18, 5, 4, 6, 19, 8, 9, 12, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16
Type: Supervised      
ORAL PRESENTATION / EXPOSITION OF WRITTEN WORKS 23 0.92 1, 2, 3, 18, 5, 4, 6, 19, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 16, 20
Type: Autonomous      
PREPARATION OF WRITTEN WORKS / SELF-STUDY / READING ARTICLES / REPORTS OF INTEREST 75 3 1, 2, 3, 18, 5, 4, 6, 19, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 16, 20

Assessment

The evaluation of the acquired competencies in this subject is continuous, through the active participation of the students in relation to several activities proposed by the teachers.

The final mark will be the sum of the marks of every distributive block. For the evaluation to be effective, it is necessary to pass each activity separately.

The faculty will communicate the marks through the Moodle application once each distributive block has been completed. The final mark of the subject will be published after the final session, also through the Moodle application.

The students who do not take the evaluation tests will be considered as "Not evaluated", losing the enrolment rights of the subject.

The students who have not passed the continuous evaluation, can be re-evaluated with an exam. In order to participate, students must have been previously evaluated in a set of activities with a minimum weight of two thirds of the evaluation. In addition, it is necessary to have obtained at least 3.5 in the total grade of the subject.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Attendance and active participation in class and seminars 10% 3 0.12 1, 2, 3, 18, 5, 4, 6, 19, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 16, 20
Essay test of extensive questions 30% 4 0.16 1, 2, 3, 6, 19, 9, 10, 12, 11, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 16
Evaluation through case studies and problem solving 30% 4 0.16 1, 2, 18, 6, 19, 8, 10, 12, 11, 7, 15, 17, 16, 20
Oral defense of written works 30% 4 0.16 2, 3, 6, 10, 12, 11, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20

Bibliography

Badinter, Elisabeth (1993) XY La identidad masculina. Madrid: Alianza Editorial

Bertaux, Daniel (2005) Los relatos de vida: perspectiva etnosociológica. Barcelona: Bellaterra

Chillón Martínez, Raquel (2008) El Pensamiento Histórico-Filosófico y Los Fundamentos Científicos En El Estudio de La Fisioterapia. Revista de Fisioterapia, 7(2): 5–16. Available online: <https://dialnet-unirioja-es.are.uab.cat/servlet/articulo?codigo=3163045>

Coburn, David (1994) Professionalization and Proletarianization: Medicine, Nursing, and Chiropractic in Historical Perspective. Labour / Le Travail, 34, 139. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.10.2307.25143848&site=eds-live>

Comelles, Josep Maria & Martínez-Hernáez, Ángel (1993) Enfermedad, Cultura y Sociedad. Un ensayo sobre las relaciones entre la Antropología Social y la Medicina. Madrid: Eudema. Available online: <https://www.academia.edu/2580441/Enfermedad_cultura_y_sociedad_un_ensayo_sobre_las_relaciones_entre_la_Antropolog%C3%ADa_Social_y_la_Medicina>

Cuelenaere, Eduard, Willems, Gertjan & Joye, Stijn (2019) Remaking identities and stereotypes: How film remakes transform and reinforce nationality, disability, and gender. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 22(5-6): 613-629. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edswah&AN=000487056100008&site=eds-live>

Esteban, Mari Luz (ed.) (2007) Introducción a la antropología de la salud. Aplicaciones teóricas y prácticas. Bilbao: Asociación por el derecho a la salud (OSALDE). Available online: <https://osalde.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Libro-Introduccion-Antropologia-De-La-Salud-OSALDE-Mariluz-Esteban-ed.pdf>

Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2006) Cuerpos sexuados. La política de género y la construcción de la sexualidad. Barcelona: Melusina

Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2019) Gender/Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Identity Are in the Body: How Did They Get There? Journal of Sex Research, 56(4-5): 529-555. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edswss&AN=000467157500007&site=eds-live>

Fernández-Garrido, Sam & Alegre Agis, Elisa (2019) Autoetnografías, cuerpos y emociones (II): Perspectivas feministas en la investigación en salud. Tarragona: Publicacions de la Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Available online: <http://llibres.urv.cat/index.php/purv/catalog/view/408/426/966-1>

Fox Keller, Evelyn (2001)Reflexiones sobre género y ciencia (fragmento). Asparkía. Investigació feminista, 12: 149-153. Available online: <http://www.e-revistes.uji.es/index.php/asparkia/article/view/891>

Harding, Sandra (1996) Ciencia y feminismo. Madrid: Morata

Heap, Ruby (1995) Training Women for a New "Women's Profession": Physiotherapy Education at the University of Toronto, 1917-40. History of Education Quarterly, 35(2): 135-158. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=trh&AN=9508090244&site=eds-live>

Jiménez, Javier (2000) Aparatos gimnásticos y de rehabilitación del siglo XIX: orígenes comunes y su evolución. Madrid: Gymnos

Lendoiro Salvador, José (2016) Fisioterapia en los inicios del siglo XX y Primera Guerra Mundial: avances profesionales y científicos. Fisioterapia al día, 12(3):58-67. Available online: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5654074

Linker, Beth (2005) Strength and Science: Gender, Physiotherapy, and Medicine in the United States, 1918-35. Journal of Women's History 17(3): 106-132. Available online:https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.S1527203605301061&site=eds-live

Linker, Beth & Laemmli, Whitney (2015) Half a Man: The Symbolism and Science of Paraplegic Impotence in World War II America. Osiris, 30(1): 228-249. Available online: https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.10.1086.683021&site=eds-live

López Piñero, José María (2002) La medicina en la historia. Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros

Martínez-Hernáez, Ángel (2008) Antropología Médica. Teorías sobre la cultura, el poder y la enfermedad. Barcelona: Anthropos

MacLean, Vicky M. & Rozier, Carolyn (2009) From sport culture to the social world ofthe "good PT": masculinities and the career development of physical therapists. Men and Masculinities, 11: 286-306. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2009-07066-002&site=eds-live>

McRuer, Robert (2006) Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability. New York: NYU Press

McRuer, Robert (2018) Crip Times: Disability, Globalization, and Resistance. New York: NYU Press. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsebk&AN=1497345&site=eds-live>

Nicholls, David A. & Gibson, Barbara E. (2010) The body and physiotherapy. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 26 (8): 497-509. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=54493476&site=eds-live>

Nicholls, David A. & Cheek, Julianne (2006) Physiotherapy and the shadow of prostitution: The Society of Trained Masseuses and the massage scandals of 1894. Social Science & Medicine, 62(9): 2336-2348. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edselp&AN=S0277953605005022&site=eds-live>

Perdiguero, Enrique & Comelles, Josep Maria (eds.) (2000) Medicina y cultura. Estudios entre la antropología y la medicina. Barcelona: Bellaterra. Available online: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236170751_Medicina_y_Cultura_Estudios_entre_la_Antropologia_y_la_Medicina>

Pettman, Erland (2007) A History of Manipulative Therapy. Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy, 15(3): 165-174. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=135107840&site=eds-live>

Prados Megías, ME, Márquez García, MJ & Padua Arcos, D. (2017) Life Stories as a Biographic-narrative Method. How to Listen to Silenced Voices. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 237, 962–967. Available online: <https://login.are.uab.cat/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edselp&AN=S1877042817301362&site=eds-live>

Tabernero, Carlos (2016) Terapias de cine. Barcelona: UOC

Vicente-Pedraz, Miguel & Torrebadella-Flix, Xavier (2017) El dispositivo gimnástico en el contexto de la medicina social decimonónica española. De las políticas higiénicas a los discursos fundacionales de la “Educación Física”. Asclepio, 69 (1): p.172. Available online: <http://asclepio.revistas.csic.es/index.php/asclepio/article/view/727/1113>

Complementary bibliography will be offered throughout the semester, in accordance with the distributive blocks.