PhysioUpdate 18th July 2023

‘Superagers’ – people in their eighties with the memory function of people who are several decades younger – performed well in Timed Up and Go tests that were held as part of a wider study conducted by researchers based in Spain, Germany and Finland.

The full results of the study are published today (14 July) in The Lancet Healthy Longevity journal. Many UK-based physiotherapists will be familiar the Timed Up and Go Test, which is commonly used to assess people’s mobility levels. Researchers who used the test alongside a finger tapping test, which measures fine motor function, found that higher scores were linked to better levels of mobility, agility, and balance among the participants.

This observation was made despite there being no differences in self-reported exercise levels between superagers and typical older adults. As well as being more likely to have greater movement speed than typical older adults, the superagers had lower rates of anxiety and depression, the researchers state.

Musculoskeletal physiotherapist Luke Millward’s life is back on track after his solicitors reached a five-figure financial settlement with Essex County Council over the injuries he received after his bicycle hit a pothole in the road.

The council admitted partial responsibility in a settlement with Luke that was negotiated by London-based legal firm Thompsons, acting on behalf of his trade union, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).

Luke, 45 and from Saffron Walden, suffered multiple injuries when he hit a pothole as he pedalled along Audley End Road in March 2017 and was flung over the handlebars.

Preston-based Verity Ford was one of a large number of physiotherapists who played their part at the British Thoracic Society’s (BTS) Summer Meeting in London earlier this month. The meeting, which ran from 22-23 June and was held at the University of Manchester, attracted more than 600 delegates from a wide range of professions.

A spokesperson said the BTS is keen to see physiotherapists gain a high profile in the organisation and has made it a priority to see the profession being well represented at the line-up of events it is running in the coming months. PhysioUpdate readers may recall that high-profile respiratory physiotherapist Rachael Moses served as BTS president in a one-year in a term that ended last autumn.

Verity gave a talk on 23 June that was titled ‘The development of the consultant physiotherapist role: my journey’ during an afternoon session devoted to workforce, training and research topics in the delivery of respiratory critical care. A consultant physiotherapist with the Lancashire and South Cumbria Ventilation Service, Verity has specialised in ventilation matters for 15 of the 19 years she has spent in the respiratory field.

Her career in north west England has included spells in a dedicated weaning unit and she has a specialist interest in delivery of acute non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and complex airway clearance management.  

Verity holds a Master’s in advanced respiratory physiotherapy and is currently studying to gain a qualification in non-medical prescribing. She told her multidisciplinary audience about the valuable contribution that consultant physiotherapists make in respiratory teams and discussed how to make a career plan and find pathways for development.

The session was co-chaired by respiratory physician Charlotte Addy, a ‘self-confessed sputumologist’ who is based in Cardiff and has a specialist interests in cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis. Dr Addy currently chairs the BTS’s workforce committee and sits on the society’s board.

A spokesperson said the BTS is keen to see physiotherapists gain a high profile in the organisation and has made it a priority to see the profession being well represented at the line-up of events it is running in the coming months

Lucy Gardiner on inequalities

Physiotherapist Lucy Gardiner ran a session titled ‘Inequalities in pulmonary rehabilitation. It’s a topic close to Lucy's heart: she is a Wellcome Trust PhD fellow with the Leicestershire Health Inequalities Improvement Programme at the University of Leicester. Her presentation looked at the evidence relating to existing inequalities associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary rehabilitation and the limitations of the data that are currently available.

Lucy is an assistant professor in physiotherapy in her substantive post at the University of Birmingham. Having completed the University College London Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy MSc programme in 2019, Lucy has continued to pursue her research interests in pulmonary rehabilitation, multimorbidity, and health inequalities. She has been a committee member of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care professional network and sat on the BTS Pulmonary Rehabilitation Specialist Advisory Group from 2018-2022. 

Other sessions that were of particular interest to delegates with physiotherapy backgrounds included ‘Patient asthma: understanding how the multidisciplinary team can work in partnership to manage patient asthma’ and ‘Redesigning CF clinics: understanding the challenges/potential solutions of providing appropriate outpatient holistic, multi-disciplinary care in a new era of cystic fibrosis’.

Professional portfolio opportunities

Respiratory physiotherapists who attend BTS events such as the recent Summer Meeting can add their participation to their professional portfolios, as they are part of a programme of education offered by society.

Further opportunities will be available at the BTS's Winter Meeting, which runs at the QE11 Centre in London from 22-24 November. The programme is available to view online (full, detailed programme to be released in September), and tickets can be purchased here on the BTS website.

The BTS also runs a series of courses of interest to respiratory physiotherapists throughout the year, including Advanced Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Clinical Management of Chronic Breathlessness