Environmental physiotherapy represents a long-term effort to implement environmental awareness and responsibility in physiotherapy research, practice, and education. The development of environmental physiotherapy is spearheaded by the Environmental Physiotherapy Association (EPA) led by Dr Filip Maric. The EPA is a network of more than 1200 physiotherapy clinicians, academics, students, and professional representatives seeking to explore the complex relationships between health, physiotherapy, our natural environment, and society at large.
Environmental Physiotherapy - Advancing sustainability and environmental responsibility in healthcare
Environmental PhysiotherapyMembers from the EPA and our research group are leading the international development of research, education, and practice in environmental physiotherapy, as well as the implementation of sustainable healthcare and planetary in physiotherapy and other healthcare professions.
Selected publications
Andreassen Bergli, A., Pedersen, S., & Maric, F. (2023). Tilrettelegging for aktiv transport i Tromsø – en urban design studie (Infrastructure for active transport in Tromsø – an urban design study). Fysioterapeuten Tidsskriftet. https://www.fysioterapeuten.no/aktiv-transport-byplanlegging-fagfellevurdert/tilrettelegging-for-aktiv-transport-i-tromso-en-urban-design-studie/151103
Maric, F. (2023). Mot løsninger på vår fantasikrise (Toward solutions for our crisis of imagination). Fysioterapeuten Tidsskriftet. https://www.fysioterapeuten.no/mot-losninger-pa-var-fantasikrise/151092
Banerjee, S., & Maric, F. (2023). Mitigating the environmental impact of NSAIDs – physiotherapy as a contribution to One Health and the SDGs. European Journal of Physiotherapy, 25(1), 51–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/21679169.2021.1976272
Maric, F. & Davenport, T. (2022). Environmental Influences on Health. In Garner, G. & Tatta, J. (Eds.), Integrative Lifestyle and Medicine in Physical Therapy: A guide for primary care, health promotion, and disease prevention. OPTP. https://www.optp.com/Integrative-and-Lifestyle-Medicine-in-Physical-Therapy
Maric, F., Griech, S.F., Davenport, T.E. (2022). Advancing Environmental Stewardship in Physical Therapy: Connect, Learn, Act. Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy Journal, 33(1): 2-4. https://doi.org/10.1097/CPT.0000000000000189
Lister, H. E., Mostert, K., Botha, T., van der Linde, S., van Wyk, E., Rocher, S.-A., Laing, R., Wu, L., Müller, S., des Tombe, A., Kyangyago, T., Zwane, N., Mphogo, B., & Maric, F. (2022). South African Healthcare Professionals’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Environmental Sustainability in Healthcare: A Mixed-Methods Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 10121. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610121
Richter, R., & Maric, F. (2022). Ecological Bodies and Relational Anatomies: Toward a Transversal Foundation for Planetary Health Education. Challenges, 13(2), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020039
Maric, F., & Nicholls, D. A. (2022). Environmental physiotherapy and the case for multispecies justice in planetary health. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 38(13), 2295–2306. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2021.1964659
Stanhope, J., Maric, F., Rothmore, P., & Weinstein, P. (2021). Physiotherapy and ecosystem services: improving the health of our patients, the population, and the environment. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2021.2015814
Maric, F., Groven, K.S., Banerjee, S. & Dahl-Michelsen, T. (2021). Essentials for sustainable physiotherapy: Introducing environmental reasoning into physiotherapy clinical decision-making. Fysioterapeuten Tidsskriftet. https://fysioterapeuten.no/fagfellevurdert-sustainable-physiotherapy/essentials-for-sustainable-physiotherapy-introducing-environmental-reasoning-into-physiotherapy-clinical-decision-making/1317
Toner, A., Lewis, J. S., Stanhope, J., & Maric, F. (2021). Prescribing active transport as a planetary health intervention – benefits, challenges and recommendations. Physical Therapy Reviews, 26(3), 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/10833196.2021.1876598
Guzmán, C. A. F., Aguirre, A., Astle, B., Barros, E., Bayles, B., Chimbari, M., El-Abbadi, N., Evert, J., Hackett, F., Howard, C., Jennings, J., Krzyzek, A., LeClair, J., Maric, F., Martin, O., Osano, O., Patz, J. A., Potter, T., Redvers, N., Trienekens, N., Walpole, S. C., Wilson, L., Xu, C., & Zylstra, M. J. (2021). A framework to guide planetary health education. The Lancet Planetary Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00110-8
Barna, S., Maric, F., Simons, J., Kumar, S., & Blankestijn, P. J. (2020). Education for the Anthropocene: Planetary health, sustainable health care, and the health workforce. Medical Teacher, 42(10), 1091–1096. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159x.2020.1798914
Maric, F. & Nicholls, D.A. (2020). Paradigm shifts are hard to come by: Looking ahead of COVID-19 with the social and environmental determinants of health and the UN SDGs. European Journal of Physiotherapy, 22(6). https://doi.org/10.1080/21679169.2020.1826577
Maric, F. & Nicholls, D.A. (2019) A call for a new environmental physiotherapy – An editorial, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 35:10, 905-907. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593985.2019.1632006
See here for more publications.
Contact
For more information about environmental physiotherapy please visit the EPA website or get in touch with Filip Maric (PhD)
Members:
Filip Maric (Principal investigator)