Global Physio Podcast

In this episode of the FutureSeries, we speak with Susan. Susan Czyzo is a Registered Physiotherapist and a Certified Coach, Mindfulness Facilitator and Pilates Instructor. Through movement, mindfulness, and coaching, Susan supports adults in building a more sustainable, mindful, and active relationship with their health. Her mission is to help adults feel capable, confident, and in control of their health and well-being. Susan is active within the Environmental Physiotherapy community, and is a former executive committee member of the Global Health Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association. You can find more information about Susan here! https://groundedphysiotherapy.ca/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-czyzo/ https://www.instagram.com/grounded.susan/

On this episode of the FutureSeries, we speak with Erin! Erin Keough (M.Sc.Kin, M.Sc.A.PT., PT, MS2) is trained physical therapist and now medical student. Erin holds two master’s degrees: one in Kinesiology from Memorial University of Newfoundland and one in Physical Therapy from McGill University. Erin has taught multiple courses at Memorial University, and guest lectured at McGill University and the University of Valencia. Erin also received the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council award for her dedicated research on experiential learning through internships. Her current research projects include anti-oppressive documentation and equitable health research. Erin was diagnosed with a chronic disability in 2016 and since then has used her lived experiences as a platform to deconstruct disability politics and pedagogies. This led Erin to become a co-founder of Justice Centered Rehab, an organization created to bring awareness to social justice and health inequity around the world. Here, Erin used her lived-experiences to deconstruct social norms and decolonize healthcare in her area. Erin is also a regular guest lecturer at McGill University at the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy where she lectures about colonial history in healthcare and decolonization strategies.

In this episode, we speak with Lindsay Beavers and Codie Primeau on gender-affirming care in physiotherapy, who are faculty members and also members of the Queer Physiotherapy Collective. We discuss the existing gaps when providing care for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and ways clinicians can better support gender diverse populations. Resources and links: https://www.instagram.com/chest_binding_support/ https://www.instagram.com/queerptc/ Https://linktr.ee/lgbtqphysio  https://www.thegetrealmovement.com/theclinicfilm  https://www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/education/training/

Welcome to a new series on the podcast, named the FutureSeries. It will be a space where we chat with physios, and others, about our uncertainties, our fears, and most importantly, our hopes in a more just and healthy world. We envision these conversations to have “less answers”, but more imagination and creation, centered around these questions. What concerns and uncertainties in the world do you have right now when it relates to physiotherapy and health? What does a healthier world look like to you? And how do you think physiotherapists/your profession can be a part of the solution? What changes need to happen for that to come to life? What gives you hope? What/who has helped you imagine this future? If you’d like to be a part of these conversations, please reach out to us at @[email protected]

In this final Part 3, we speak with 2 guests. Amira Dirie is a registered psychotherapist, currently based on the East Coast of Canada. Sandra Ballantyne is a Canadian physiotherapist who has lived and worked in urban and remote areas of Canada, in Europe and in the Middle East. Early clinical experience in Lebanon and research in Palestine led her to graduate work in Community-Based Rehabilitation under conditions of political violence, completing a Palestinian case study. She subsequently practiced within CBR in Palestine, then returned to Canada, continuing to focus on community care. Sandra is married to a Palestinian public health professional, and they and their children are strongly linked with family in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and in the Palestinian diaspora. In the last two years, Sandra has been increasingly active for Palestine solidarity within health care and faith- based communities. She has recently retired from clinical practice. In our workplaces and beyond, Sandra is encouraged by our shared commitment to pursue universal human rights. More about this series: This Palestine Series, we sit down with three physiotherapists from Canada, the UK, and Australia, and a psychotherapist from Canada to explore their experiences with anti-Palestinian racism in healthcare systems. Together, we reflect on our personal and professional connections to Palestine, how the ongoing occupation across Palestine and ongoing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza shape not only lives on the ground but also clinical and rehab spaces globally. In this series, we speak openly about discrimination, advocacy, and responsibility. We examine how politics enters healthcare spaces and institutions, how it impacts providers and patients, and what role rehabilitation professionals can and should play in advancing health justice and equity globally.  

In Part 2, we speak with Dr. Rachel Coghlan. She has over 20 years’ experience in public health, humanitarian response, and clinical physiotherapy practice, specialising in palliative care, neurology, oncology, and rehabilitation. She is a global leader on qualitative research and advocacy concerning palliative care in serious illness and injury in humanitarian settings, with a focus on armed conflict. Rachel has undertaken a PhD on palliative care in Gaza. Rachel is a storyteller who focuses on amplifying the voices and wisdom of those affected by illness, disability, or frailty, including during crisis. She enjoys writing to spread a little compassion and humanity in living and in dying, and to help make sense of grief and suffering in our world. Before and during the current genocide, Rachel has written and spoken extensively to ensure the stories and truths of friends and colleagues living in Gaza reach the world. More about this series: In this Palestine Series, we sit down with three physiotherapists from Canada, the UK, and Australia, and a psychotherapist from Canada to explore their experiences with anti-Palestinian racism in healthcare systems. Together, we reflect on our personal and professional connections to Palestine, how the ongoing occupation across Palestine and ongoing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza shape not only lives on the ground but also clinical and rehab spaces globally. In this series, we speak openly about discrimination, advocacy, and responsibility. We examine how politics enters healthcare spaces and institutions, how it impacts providers and patients, and what role rehabilitation professionals can and should play in advancing health justice and equity globally.

In this Palestine Series, we sit down with three physiotherapists from Canada, the UK, and Australia, and a psychotherapist from Canada to explore their experiences with anti-Palestinian racism in healthcare systems. Together, we reflect on our personal and professional connections to Palestine, how the ongoing occupation across Palestine and ongoing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza shape not only lives on the ground but also clinical and rehab spaces globally. In this series, we speak openly about discrimination, advocacy, and responsibility. We examine how politics enters healthcare spaces and institutions, how it impacts providers and patients, and what role rehabilitation professionals can and should play in advancing health justice and equity globally. In Part 1, we have Rachael Moses, a physiotherapist for 25 years with experience in the British military, national health service, voluntary and humanitarian sectors.  Following general rotations, Rachael specialised in critical care and respiratory physiotherapy with special interests in major trauma and mechanical ventilation.  Rachael has been fortunate to work in a number of senior positions both in the UK and internationally and for the past 8 years Rachael has been volunteering with Medical Aid for Palestinians, travelling to Gaza over this time.  Rachael has had the privilege to work alongside inspirational physiotherapists who have been continuously working throughout the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

This episode we welcome back Steph Lurch to talk about her recent 30 day Health Justice Series, that has been taking place across several of her accounts. If you liked this conversation, head to www.linkedin.com/in/slurch to check out the rest of the content. You can find out more about Steph Lurch here: Website: bio.site/stephlurch TikTok: medicine.needs.medicine Art Work as part of the Health Justice Series: Charmaine Lurch at clurch.com Bio: Stephanie Lurch (BScPT, MEd, Doctoral student) is a physiotherapist, educator, and health justice scholar with more than 30 years of experience at the intersection of healthcare, education, and equity. As a practicing pediatric clinician and Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University, she designs and leads transformative graduate-level curriculum that weaves together systems thinking, relational care, and the arts to reshape how future clinicians understand their role in health and healing. Her insights don’t just teach. They move. Grounded in lived experience, Stephanie speaks directly to those who’ve felt excluded from care or disconnected from the systems meant to support them. Raised in a working-class immigrant household and shaped by global work across three continents, from Cirque du Soleil to travelling with a paraplegic ultra-marathoner in New Zealand, she brings stories, metaphor, and bold insights to ignite reflection and collective action. Whether you’sre a healthcare provider, educator, learner, or leader, Stephanie’s work invites you to step into your power and reimagine what’s possible. She has spoken at international conferences, taught over 3000 graduate students, mentored thought leaders, and authored publications that are love letters to those who’ve ever felt like they don’t belong. Academic Resources Referenced in the Episode What Action Can Look Like… Clover, Darlene & Hill, Lilian. (2003). Learning patterns of landscape and life. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. 2003. 89 – 95. 10.1002/ace.113. On racism being the longest standing instrument of social domination… Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America. Nepantla, 1(3), 533–580. The fundamental goals of oppression is to profit… Melamed, J. (2015). Racial capitalism. Critical Ethnic Studies, 1(1), 76–85.) Perkins, M. V., & Phelps, C. L. (2000). Autobiography as Activism: Three Black Women of the Sixties. University Press of Mississippi. ProQuest Ebook. Central. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/mcmu/detail.action?docID=866925)

This episode, we are delighted to introduce our listeners to Zeina Abu-Jurji, our new co-host on the podcast. Zeina’s passion and commitment in advancing health justice was evident from the very first conversation we had, and we are excited to continue to bring more conversation about physiotherapy, rehabilitation and global health to this space. Read more about Zeina on our website, https://globalphysio.ca/about-us/.

Today’s guests are three second year physiotherapy students at the University of Manitoba: Emma De Guzman Caballero, Alana Lesperance and Gurkirat Gill. They talk about the literature review they conducted as part of their physiotherapy programme that focused on recommendations on how to provide environmentally-responsible community-based physiotherapy in Winnipeg. Bio: Alana Lesperance is a 2nd year MPT student at the University of Manitoba. She is passionate about health and wellness and was a high-level ringette player who played for the 2017 national ringette team that won gold against Finland. Currently she still plays ringette for the Manitoba Herd in the NRL. She is currently interested in working in acute care CVP PT but open to any opportunities that arise once graduated.  Emma De Guzman Caballero is a 2nd year physiotherapy student at the University of Manitoba. She had lived all over the west coast of Canada but has settled with her husband in friendly Manitoba! Her interests include playing volleyball, basketball, biking, and strength training. She loves going to the beach and for evening walks outside. As far as physiotherapy goes, she loves all aspects of the profession, but has a special interest in private practice and a passion for cardiorespiratory care! This project and the opportunity to participate in this podcast has really opened her eyes to all the possibilities for physiotherapy and planetary health. She is excited to put these concepts into her own physio practice! Resources: – https://globalphysio.ca/gp044-mindfulness-and-environmental-justice-with-elizabeth-houlding-susan-czyzo/ – https://world.physio/policy/ps-climate-change-and-health