SYNAPSE Spring 2009 - acpin

NEWS ACPIN
ACPIN Presidents past and present, with the current co-chairs. From left to right; Mary Lynch-Ellerington, Margaret Mayston, Cherry Kilbride, Sue Mawson, Jo Tuckey and Sue Edwards.
President’s address
Margaret Mayston AM FCSP
Does the hat fit?
I stand next in a line of several eminent
people in neurorehabilitation
who have worn this hat before me
and at first I was not sure that it was
one which would fit me or one
which I was able to wear. It was
therefore with a sense of some hesitation
and challenge that I contemplated
whether I should accept the
surprise invitation from Jo and
Cherry, the co-chairpersons of ACPIN,
to take on the role of President. Do I
qualify for the job I asked myself?
Will the hat fit? I seem to wear various
hats. The clinical hat: my clinical
work has mostly been in the area of
paediatric neurology, although I
have had a long-term interest in
adult neurorehabilitation, particularly
in the area of stroke. In my early
days at the Bobath Centre I had the
opportunity to work with people
who had had a stroke with Mrs
Bobath and Jennifer Bryce, who
encouraged me to become an adult
Bobath tutor (which I did, although
it is a role I gave up long ago). So
some experience there. Now to the
educational hat: The MSc in
Neurophysiotherapy which I coordinated
at UCL until late 2007 ultimately
seemed to meet the needs of adult
therapists more than paediatric ones,
and the evidence based course
which ran successfully as part of that
programme was initiated in conjunction
with ACPIN after a discussion at
one of these Northampton conferences.
That also seemed a good
qualification towards the post. The
research hat? I have various interests
but I have made some contribution
to research into upper limb recovery
after stroke, and that seemed
another plus. Of course another
important factor was that the people
in ACPIN know how to have a good
time- they are certainly not boring,
and their energy and enthusiasm for
neurophysiotherapy can at times be
exceeded by their enthusiasm for
socialising and laughter- this is very
important and could be the thing
that tipped the scales in favour of
taking on this task! Taking all of these
experiences together, plus involvement
in ACPIN activities for several
years, made me feel that on balance
I might have something to contribute
to ACPIN and its important work. I
feel that we are in exciting times for
neurophysiotherapy, that change is
gradually taking place, that the profession
is moving forward into the
future in a positive and expansive
way, and that ACPIN is significant
contributor to that process.
ACPIN is one of the largest and
most dynamic special interest groups
of the Chartered Society of
Physiotherapy, and is run by an
exceptionally enthusiastic team of
volunteers, not just nationally but in
its 18 regions. This meeting is another
example of their dedication to
improving knowledge and clinical
practice for their members,
ultimately to the benefit of many
recipients of their services in the UK.
It is therefore an honour and a privilege
to take on this role as your
President and I hope that I can make
a positive contribution to the work of
the group.
Neurophysiotherapy has always
been a fascinating and challenging
area of physiotherapy to be part of,
but as time goes on it becomes more
so- knowledge increases, therapy
options broaden and experimental
evidence for what we do is gradually
emerging. Now that therapy strategies
are broadening, perhaps more
thought needs to be given to specific
aspects of what it is the therapist
does that might make a difference to
the people we work with. The idea
of protocols might be alarming to
some, but it will enable better definition
of what we do as therapists
and a basis for developing useful
studies of efficacy. We have some
good examples of this today in the
excellent presentations by Cathy
Donaldson and Amanda Wallace.
So what can I contribute? I may not
be working in the mainstream NHS
and spend most of my time in education,
but I am passionate about
finding a way to achieve client-centred
scientific-based practice. I fully
support the multi-faceted approach
to evidence based practice which
encompasses knowledge, therapy
expertise, and client preference, in
addition to experimental evidence.
We are gradually moving towards a
clearer view of what we do and need
to do, and several of today’s presentations
are indicative of that. It will
require continued lateral thinking
and searching of what we do and
how we do it, to reach into the
future and to further develop as professionals
and as a group, and it will
take all of us.
I love hats – so I would like to suggest
that we all might practice wearing
the hats of co-operative exploration,
as devised by Edward de Bono- the
master of lateral thinking- in 1985 (see
de Bono E, 2004, How to have a
Beautiful Mind? Chapter 8 Vermilion,
London.) So to make this a little less
boring – Presidents’ addresses have a
tendency to be a bit like that – I will
illustrate these different hats using
some hat pictures. Where would you
go to find pictures of hats? Although
she is much forgotten and thought of
in different ways by different people,
Princess Diana had a fabulous collection
of clothes and hats, which I will
use as examples. The idea is that we
put on our thinking cap, a coloured
hat, that we all take on the same hat
at the same time and fully explore the
different aspects of any given situation
or experience, which is related to
Sarah Blanton’s challenge to us today
to embrace the concept of reflective
practice.
1. The white hat This means information;
what do we know? What do
we need to know? What is missing?
What question should we ask? How
might we get the information we
need? It is not about looking at the
information that fits your own view-
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