Our Impact

We build community[edit | edit source]

Physiopedia is an international community built knowledge sharing website.

Every month around 4 million individuals from nearly every country in the world use Physiopedia. 80% of these individuals are rehabilitation professionals (includes students and assistants), the other 20% are other health care professionals and the general health-seeking public. That's around 3 million health professionals using Physiopedia to gain knowledge every month! ~ Google Analytics Data Feb 2024

With a team of around 50 active volunteers at any one time.

Caution, joining the team at Physiopedia could irreversibly change your professional life. I would strongly recommend to do the same for supporting the development of our global physiotherapy community. ~ Andrea Sturm, Physiotherapist, Austria.

The first-everPhysiopedia (and perhaps physiotherapy) Hackathon in 2017
The Physiopedia team meeting up at the Physiotherapy UK conference in 2018
The global Physiopedia team sharing knowledge in one of the many monthly meetings.

We Educate[edit | edit source]

By sharing our knowledge[edit | edit source]

The Physiopedia team present their impact and work at national and international conferences and events.

I feel exceptionally proud when members of the Physiopedia team present our work at conferences, especially as I see them grow into leaders within our profession ~ Rachael Lowe, Physiopedia President.

See presentations and publications list here.

Tony Lowe presenting about the education that we provide in low resourced settings at the WCPT Conference in Geneva in 2019
Mariam Mohana presenting some work that the Physiopedia team investigated at the WCPT Conference in Geneva in 2019
Physiopedia sharing a virtual reality experience at the Physiotherapy UK conference in 2017

By helping others share their knowledge[edit | edit source]

We work with partners to provide education and training to the rehabilitation workforce...

The International Committee of the Red Cross is proud to have supported four free online courses developed and delivered by Physiopedia on lower limb amputee rehabilitation, managing children with cerebral palsy, clubfoot and wheelchair service delivery. ~ Barbara Rau ICRC

A cake made for Physiopedia by the staff at the ICRC rehabilitation clinic in Gaza.
The rehabilitation team at the ICRC clinic in Gaza with their course Physiopedia certificates

...and topic specialists to share their knowledge...

I thoroughly enjoy working with Physiopedia. They’re a business with a heart. Knowing my teaching is being accessed globally in less developed countries is a really big plus for me. They’re consistent, fun, plain talkers and they have a really cool website AND they do all the boring admin things for you! They even edited my videos to make it look like I know what I’m talking about. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. ~ Chris Worsfold, Neck Pain Specialist, UK

Our partnership with Physiopedia allows us to reach a global physiotherapy audience beyond what we ever thought was possible ~ Jason Giesbrecht, Rehabilitation Leadership Specialist, Canada

Through the annual free online course[edit | edit source]

Date Course topic Articles created Pageviews Course participants Number of countries represented Participants from LMICs*
2013 Professional Ethics n/a n/a 88 8 52
2014 Spinal Cord Injuries n/a n/a 3,500 110 95
2015 Amputee Rehabilitation 26 129,899 7,639 150 421
2016 Physical Activity 44 82,647 8,482 157 191
2016 Cerebral Palsy 25 193,299 14,010 179 651
2017 Clubfoot 25 36,243 6,000 156 387
2018 Wheelchair Service Provision 25 57,718 5,559 143 601
2019 Traumatic Brain Injury Programme 33 91,221 4,028 185 821
2020 COVID-19 Programme 19 358, 611 166,870 214 n/a
2021 Understanding Rehabilitation as Health Strategy 38 91,221 10,703 107 823
2022 Understanding the Rehabilitation Needs of Displaced Persons 24 31,972 12,604 107 383
2023 Understanding Basic Rehabilitation Techniques 22 170,692 11,331 111 571

*LMICs = low and middle income countries

In September 2023 Physiopedia, in collaboration with Learning, Acting, and Building for Rehabilitation in Health Systems (ReLAB-HS), successfully led a Massive Open Online Course - Understanding Basic Rehabilitation Techniques through the online learning platform at Physiopedia Plus. The programme consisted of a series of courses to provide a comprehensive understanding of the rehabilitation needs of displaced persons. To date those courses have attracted over 11,300 participants from over 100 countries. Read more about the impact of the course here

And online courses at Physiopedia Plus[edit | edit source]

There are over 2,000 hours of online learning at Plus being accessed by over 180,000 rehabilitation professionals from all over the world.

I love Plus because it helps in my professional development and the development of the profession I love!  The courses are all well made and the website is user friendly.  Keep up the good work!

I have really enjoyed the interactive nature of the courses and feel my clinical learning has accelerated! The presenters are great and I feel membership is really worthwhile. 

My first experience of learning with Plus I was impressed by the variety of information all available on my phone giving me freedom and flexibility to learn when and where I want.

To help physios be better[edit | edit source]

We love hearing the stories of how Physiopedia helps clinicians deliver improved services.

In our department we have 12 computers, one of those computers is a dedicated Physiopedia computer. ~ Bellarmine Graduate, USA.

Without fail Physiopedia is always displaying on one of the computers in our department. ~ NHS Physiotherapist, UK

The team at Physiopedia is doing an excellent job. Information which may not otherwise be available to myself and others is readily available as a result of Physiopedia. I feel like a better prepared physiotherapist as a result of Physiopedia. ~ Claron O’Neale, Physiotherapist, Grenada.

You guys have totally changed my practice by becoming more inquisitive and having better access to the evidence. I think Physiopedia helps us to push our boundaries and question why we are doing certain practices. ~ Michael Cline, Physical Therapist, USA

This course and the whole of Plus changed my view on learning after my degree - there are no longer exams, no longer anybody behind my back to push me harder. Plus gave me the opportunity to really learn something, pushed me to really dig into the topic, and at the end rated me - so I know if I'm going the right way. I really recommend it to anybody wanting to be a better clinician.

Physiopedia courses are wonderful and they have helped me positively in my practice.

You cannot sleep through one of these courses as in a lecture and collect your certificate on the way out! It needs attention and concentration!

Great course! I learned valuable information that will change my clinical practice.

I will definitely revisit the video and get other physios at my practice to do this course!

Thank you Physiopedia for this wonderful, informative, and organised course. It made me appreciate listening to my patient's history more and reinforces the fact that listening is a sought after clinical expertise as well as clinical knowledge.

This course has been very phenomenal for me. I feel like an ACL expert at the end of the day!!

This course has a lot of information that can be used in your department to not only help your wheelchair bound patients but can empower yourself and others! Please consider this course when you work in a rural area and do not have professionals available to do maintenance and you yourself need to teach skills to users.

I enjoyed going through this course. I thought it would be difficult since I knew little on [the topic], but it wasn't. The forum was very helpful. Reading through other people's experiences was very educational.

Particularly in low resource settings[edit | edit source]

We offer free access to the online education at Plus to individuals in low-income countries.

I have a greater understanding of wheelchair design and biomechanics which will be beneficial in my physiotherapy practice in low resource settings (Kurdistan and Cambodia) where resources and choices are fewer and the mobility environment is less ideal.

Thank you Physiopedia and ICRC for giving this wonderful course. A systematic manual like these gives a lot of opportunities for the NGO's, dealing with Clubfoot, and a lot of motivation for therapists like myself! Thank you very much!

With the knowledge I have gained from this course I am interested to gain more practical experience in this field. This course has made me more curious about learning how to become a clinician in this field and make a difference in my country!

And across all health care sectors[edit | edit source]

We welcome health professionals from all disciplines to get involved to promote interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.

I am really glad to have participated in this course. I have a better knowledge in Clubfoot Management thanks to the evidence-based and precise practical demonstration, interventions, write ups, discussion forums, quizzes and additional resources. Plus has created the platform not only meant for Physiotherapists, but other members of the health team as well. This truly reflects the multidisciplinary approach in healthcare. It only gets better.

We advocate[edit | edit source]

Physiopedia is the largest and most widely used rehabilitation website in the world, we share the amazing benefits of rehabilitation with anyone that visits the website.

We are contacted by members of the health seeking public every day, we are pleased to be able to direct them to content on Physiopedia to educate them about how rehabilitation can help them. ~ Rachael Lowe, Physiopedia President.

Rachael Lowe, Physiopedia President, represented the physiotherapy profession at the 2019 and 2023 Rehabilitation 2030 meeting in Geneva

We have global impact[edit | edit source]

It is not possible to share everything that we have achieved, but here are the key highlights from 2023 that have shaped another extraordinary year.

Physiopedia-Impact-2023-768x768.jpg

We care![edit | edit source]

Find out more about Physiopedia.