A: How was Therapy Expo?
B: It was……….okay.
A: Wow, high praise.
B: No, it was good. It was great to bump into some folks I’ve chatted to online. And good to catch up with some cool people I already knew.
A: That sounds nice. Did you have some good chats?
B: Mmmm…not really. It’s all a bit manic. It’s noisy and crowded, not many places to sit and chat. Or eat. There’s Starbucks and Wetherspoons but it all feels a bit, I don’t know. Some great hugs though. Really good hugs. Lots of hugs.
A: You’re not a big hugger though are you.
B: No. Well, I don’t mind the odd hug but…
A: So, what else? Some good stands? Any decent freebies?
B: There were some good stands. I spoke to a few people trying to do some thoughtful stuff with AI. And there were some amazing speaker stands like The Hands-on Hub and STA. Fair play; those guys are really trying to move the needle in a difficult field. But there were also so many gadgets and gizmos, I can’t see many of them moving our industry forward.
A: What about the theatre talks? Anything good there?
B: To be fair these have improved. The cringe factor is lower. Some good speakers, people enthusiastic about creating change. A lot of stuff about patient-centred care, preventative health, and health inequalities, which was the main theme of the event.
A: That stuff really makes sense; I didn’t know that was the theme. It must’ve been good to get involved in some of those debates.
B: Yeah, except most of those talks were badly attended, lots of empty seats.
A: Right. To be honest, it doesn’t sound like you enjoyed it that much.
B: Oh no it was great. So nice to see everyone in person. And great hugs. Lots of hugs. You’re right I didn’t love it.
A: Would you go again?
B: I’m not sure. I might. It was good to…
A: Hug people?
B: Yeah
A: Do you reckon other people felt the same way?
B: Hard to tell. You tend to be more honest with people you think might share your view, but I’ve heard quite a few folks say similar things. Been saying it for years.
A: So why does everyone keep going then?
B: Well, there aren’t that many opportunities for lots of us to get together in one place. You can go to conferences and hear people speak or attend courses but there aren’t many events where you can really chat about the important stuff.
A: Which you didn’t by the sounds of it?
B: No.
A: What is the important stuff?
B: Well, despite what you might witness on X, there's quite a lot of agreement about where our industry should be going. Everyone’s sick of working in a reactive way, putting sticking plasters on chronic problems cos that’s all there’s time for. Defaulting to outdated treatments despite overwhelming evidence that they don’t work. Feeling a bit shit about that, but not changing cos everyone else seems to be doing the same old stuff and that’s what patients expect cos we haven’t got the time or energy to teach them otherwise. Everyone agrees it would be better to be working at the other end of the problem, using our problem-solving skills to help people make good, personalised health decisions, especially when it’s complicated like when access to good facilities is limited. We want to help turn the tide on chronic, preventable conditions like obesity and Type 2 diabetes. We want to support peoples’ mental health by really hearing them, encouraging physical activity, good sleep, stress reduction and providing them with opportunities for social interaction.
A: So, what’s the problem then? If you all want the same things, why isn’t it happening?
B: Good question. Part of the issue, I think, is that people are working hard but in disparate groups. Therapists are a pro-active lot. To be honest, I think we’re all fed up with waiting for change to be led by any of the big organisations, so we try and get things off the ground ourselves, at work, in our communities or by starting up new companies.
A: I see. And then I guess if you’ve gone to that much effort, you’re invested in your little part of the world.
B: Exactly. A friend said to me last week the problem is that everyone wants change, mostly the same change, but they all want it to happen through their organisation. I think he might have a point.
A: So, you’d rather see things happening in a more joined up way. Everyone getting together and creating proper, big scale change cos all the resources are pooled together.
B: Yes, 100%. There must be so much doubling up of work and the same conversations about the same problems happening up and down the country. It would be amazing if we could all get together in one place, have some grown up debates and make some plans to actually move things forward.
A: Do you mean like a big industry event?
B: Yes.
A: But not like Therapy Expo.
B: No.
A: All right. Dream big. If you could design your own event, tell me what it would look like.
B: Really? You’re genuinely interested?
A: Course I’m interested. All I hear is how health services are going down the pan, can’t get a GP appointment, endless waiting lists, physios just giving you one appointment and an exercise sheet. If you and your MSK mates have some bright ideas I’m all for getting you in one place to thrash things out.
B: All right, so first, the venue has got to be inspiring, not your standard airless, soulless, corporate venue. Something with outdoor space, healthy food, natural light and cosy meeting spaces.
A: Sounds bougie and pricey.
B: Not necessarily, you’ve just got to be creative – which therapists are.
A: Fair enough. Sorry, I said dream. Keep going.
B: Thanks.
A: What about the content? Are you still having talks?
B: Definitely but much more of a coherent and curated programme. It would be great to identify where we wanted to get to with specific issues prior to the event and then invite speakers who have shown interest and expertise, rather than a free for all on any topic.
A: But who would decide what was a worthy topic?
B: We’d conduct industry-wide surveys beforehand. Sure, you’d get a myriad of responses, but we could identify the strongest themes.
A: And what would be the format?
B: You’d start with a talk or talks on a particular issue, ideally presenting different viewpoints. Then you’d have curated sessions to encourage people to reflect in a few different ways; like writing prompts and facilitated debates. You might encourage people to break off into smaller groups, sleep on it. Then you’d have an organised process of bringing people back into one place to feed back and most importantly agree on some action points.
A: How would you ensure you had people coming who were interested in engaging in this process?
B: Good point. I think we’d need to be clear from the outset what the purpose and format were. Be clear that this is not a CPD event, you’re not going to pick up ten top tips for treating toe torsion.
A: Nice alliteration.
B: Thanks.
A: Not CPD then.
B: No, you’d be clear that this was an event for people committed to industry change, and that you’d be prepared to share your opinion and be comfortable with reasonable debate.
A: Whoa, hang on there. If your industry is anything like mine, this will be open season for all the big mouths who love the sound of their own voice and there will be plenty of people who have great things to say who won’t ever get a chance to speak, and most likely won’t even show up because they know what it’ll be like: all the same voices, back slapping each other.
B: Yep, that’s totally a fair call. We’ll need to think about this carefully - how to gather opinion in a variety of ways. We can use technology so that people can contribute ideas without having to speak in a huge group, but also making sure everyone owns their opinion.
A: And that people can challenge, but in a respectful way.
B: Yes. This would need some skillful facilitating.
A: Lots to think about.
B: Hmmm.
A: And what is the point of all this? Where do you want it to lead?
B: I would love it if this gave us a confident, unified message to present to government and funding organisations. To say, “This is who we are. This is what we do. This is our vision of the future of healthcare, and this is the part we will play.”
A: Sounds great. But a lot of work.
B: Yeah, to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve got in me. People have tried this kind of thing before. People are interested and enthusiastic at the outset but then it gets hard. Things get sticky, difficult, and uncomfortable. Then it all fizzles out.
A: You’re sounding like it's all on you. Of course you haven’t personally got it in you. No one has. But if what you say is true; that enough people in your industry genuinely have an appetite for change and could be persuaded to come together, why couldn’t you do this?
B: True. How would I know if I am right though? What if I’m kidding myself and people don’t agree with me that this is a clever way forward?
A: Well, you could start by drafting an article about it. Why not start writing about why you didn’t love Therapy Expo? And then talk about this new kind of event where the focus is purely on industry change, not a few talks piggy backed onto a sales event. Why not write about your industry starting to grow up, to engage in debate for an outcome not for point scoring, to clarify your purpose and your place in this world of healthcare, and to start telling those with influence all about it? If not you, who? If not now, when?
B: Wow, thanks mate. Thanks for listening. Sounds like you believe in us. Makes me want to try.
A: Come ‘ere give us a hug!
 | A guest post by
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Glen is here for your admiration and comments, hugs must be attached to a £5 note. Thank you.
Interesting & valuable reflection. And thanks for noting the efforts made by the 'Hands On Hub' and 'Sports Therapy Association' theatres, particularly the latter as tis I who organise content and host it across the two days.
As you say, the feelings you mention are shared by many, and will open some important future discussions, but I also think it's important to recognise how incredibly well the event has evolved since it started 11 years ago.
Much (not all) of the content this year was truly amazing, in terms of being evidence informed, patient centred, facilitating not fixing, etc. And that's living testimony of a decade of consistently commendable effort by educators and the platforms that spread their good word, including Physio Matters, The ST School, and Sports Therapy Association.
The mindset of many of the attendees, particularly at the last couple of Therapy Expo's, as illustrated through their questions and feedback, has been excellent, an army of critical thinkers championing patient centred care. It's also great to see the embracing of a multidisciplinary approach, with the Sports Therapy Association Theatre audiences being made up of as many Allied Health Professionals as non AHPs, if not more.
In many ways, we've achieved SO much over this decade and should feel proud. But yes, where we go from here is an important consideration. Many practicioners are simply not able to attend a 'once a year' conference like Therapy Expo, be it for ticket cost, travel needs, the fact it's midweek, many barriers. And yes, the format has flaws.
And I both pity and adore the person who tries to find solutions.