The CPTA's College Conversations

Speakers : Amanda Gould and Leanne Loranger Amanda Gould, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, and Cultural Advisor to the College joins Leanne on this special, extended episode, of College Conversations. We discuss the sharing circles the College engaged in earlier this year, bringing Indigenous people and physiotherapists together, and the key learnings that arose from the sharing circles. Listen to thi...

Speakers : Sean FitzGerald and Leanne Loranger In this episode, Sean and Leanne discuss video recording in physiotherapy practice settings, including video surveillance, generating recordings of virtual visits, and creating videos of patient instructions or home exercise programs as part of in-person visits. Physiotherapists usually provide lots of information to clients, and there can be benefits...

Speakers : Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger Physiotherapists adhere to the legislation that applies to their practice. That responsibility is enshrined in the Code of Ethical Conduct. But what legislation, exactly, is included when we say that? In this episode, Jody and Leanne review some of the often-overlooked legislation that applies to practice and its relevance to physiotherapists, including t...

Speakers : Sean FitzGerald and Leanne Loranger "A bystander is a person who is present at an event or incident but does not take part." What does bystander intervention mean and why does bystander intervention matter for physiotherapists? In late 2023 and early 2024, the College highlighted trends in allegations of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct received by the College of Physiotherapists of A...

Speakers : Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger When you think about the College's past messaging about its role – that it exists to safeguard and serve the public interest and receives its mandate from the Government of Alberta, on some level it's understandable that physiotherapists might ask, "if that's the case, why am I footing the bill?" In this conversation, Jody and Leanne address the age-old q...

Speakers : Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger All physiotherapists need a basic awareness of the rules of practice and professional expectations for physiotherapists in Alberta. The College uses many tools to get that information into your hands, to make you aware of and help you understand and meet your regulatory responsibilities. You can't fulfill a responsibility if you don't know about it or don...

Speakers : Sean FitzGerald and Leanne Loranger The Consent Standard of Practice and Consent Guide for Alberta Physiotherapists both refer to the importance of ensuring that a physiotherapist has ongoing informed consent when providing physiotherapy services. The College often hears from physiotherapists and others who have questions about the College's expectations related to ongoing consent. Does...

Speakers : Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger On this episode of College Conversations Jody and Leanne continue the discussion of trends in complaints related to allegations of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct, highlighting one of the underlying themes identified from the review of these complaints – communication. They discuss the comments highlighted in the #WordsMatter infographic and why they a...

Speakers:   Jody Prohar, Sean FitzGerald, and Leanne Loranger In this episode, Jody, Sean, and Leanne discuss common questions and issues related to physiotherapy business practices. ·       Is it appropriate for a physiotherapist to continue to sell their services without demonstrable progress towards the patient's goals, or is that a conflict of interest? ·       Where does demonstrable progress...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger, Jody Prohar, and Joyce Vogelgesang On this episode of College Conversations Jody, Joyce, and Leanne talk about concerning trends in the number and nature of complaints received by the College during the 2022-2023 registration year. The College has seen an increase in the number of complaints received, and the number of complaints pertaining to sexual abuse particularly...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Sean FitzGerald Being a member of a small community poses some unique challenges for regulated health professionals. There is the potential for conflicts of interest and risks related to the ability to set and maintain appropriate professional boundaries with patients. What does the College mean when it says that physiotherapists should refrain from providing servic...

Note: Due to changes to legislation this content is no longer up to date. Please refer to " Episode 86: Four Actions you Can Take Now to Improve Client Privacy in Your Practice Setting " for updated privacy information. One of the most common topics of the questions brought to the College is that of privacy and the legislative and regulatory requirements that physiotherapists must meet in relation...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Sean FitzGerald Physiotherapist support workers are an essential element to a functioning health system. In this episode, Leanne and Sean discuss the range of backgrounds, educations and experiences people working as physiotherapist support workers may possess and the implications of physiotherapist support workers being unregulated health providers. They review the...

Speakers:   Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger Over the last few months, there has been a near constant stream of media coverage related to health workforce labour shortages and actions taken by governments, regulators, and other organizations to address the issue. In this episode, Jody and Leanne discuss actions taken by the provincial governments in Ontario and Nova Scotia and recent changes to Alb...

Speakers:   Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger The College of Physiotherapists of Alberta has had provision of professional services rules in place for several years. The rules stem from the College's legislated authority to "approve practice settings where physiotherapists provide services." In this episode, Jody and Leanne discuss the rationale behind the rules, policy updates that were implemented...

Physiotherapists have fundamental obligations to provide safe, competent, effective care to their clients, and to provide for continuity of care whenever a therapeutic relationship has been established. The concept of a duty of care underlies long standing professional norms and expectations. In this episode we discuss recurring challenges that physiotherapists may encounter related to the duty of...

Speakers:   Jody Prohar, Joyce Vogelgesang, and Leanne Loranger To be eligible to renew their College of Physiotherapists of Alberta practice permit each year, physiotherapists are required to meet currency of practice requirements. The most common way to meet these requirements is to have engaged in the practice of physiotherapy for at least 1200 hours in the 5 registration years immediately prec...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Jody Prohar In recent years, the Government of Alberta has passed legislative changes intended to modernize health profession regulation in Alberta and ensure that health regulators focus solely on serving the public interest. Historically, physiotherapists selected to serve on Council were elected through the annual Council election process that many Alberta physio...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Jody Prohar Do you know the rules related to advertising the physiotherapy services you provide? Each month the College receives several calls and emails from physiotherapists and patients alike asking if offers of free services, use of comparative statements, or other common marketing practices are permitted by the College. In 2023, the College is instituting a pro...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Jody Prohar The Standards of Practice for Physiotherapists in Alberta are being revised, with updated Standards intended to be adopted in 2023. In this episode, Jody and Leanne talk about the core documents of the profession, the legislation governing practice, Bylaws, Code of Ethical Conduct, and the Standards as well as the purpose of each of these documents. The...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Jody Prohar Nearly a year after formally ceasing association functions, Jody and Leanne discuss the respective roles of the College of Physiotherapists of Alberta and the newly formed Alberta Association of Physiotherapy. The College regularly hears from physiotherapists who are unsure which organization can help them with the questions or concerns they have. In thi...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Sean FitzGerald In this episode, Leanne and Sean talk about the diverse group of individuals that make up the physiotherapist intern population and the supervision of physiotherapist interns as they transition into practice in Alberta. They discuss the specific duties that the supervising physiotherapist needs to fulfill when they agree to be a supervisor, including...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Jody Prohar In this episode Jody and Leanne discuss the current landscape of telerehabilitation use by physiotherapists in Alberta, cover frequent questions that came up during the COVID-19 pandemic, and bust common telerehabilitation myths. Do you have questions about: Setting fees for telerehabilitation services? Expectations regarding safety and risk management?...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger and Jody Prohar In this episode Jody and Leanne update listeners about changes that are on the horizon regarding the legislation pertaining to restricted activities in Alberta and discuss continuing competence considerations for physiotherapists who perform restricted activities. August means practice permit renewal season, and one of the things that renewal always brin...

Speakers:   Leanne Loranger, Jody Prohar, Moyra McAllister In this episode we discuss the legal requirement for mandatory reporting to the College, and the scenarios where this requirement is triggered. The College exists to protect the public. There are instances where an employer who is ending an employment relationship needs to make the College aware of performance concerns that may indicate th...