Fysioterapeuten 6-2020

FYSIOTERAPEUTEN 6/20 35 How has this digital shift changed the ways physiotherapists approach their patients? 1 See, for example, https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=EUIQUERjvjM&t=61s; watch?v=YPRdBuMophc; watch?v=7s1v7ZTrrIk; watch?v=I0Lk03HvdYk conceivable that the profession will not be radically altered when this catastrophic pan- demic finally abates. Perhaps we already see the shape of the profession to come? So what will be left? It is becoming increasingly clear that the things that will define the profession in the future will be the things that cannot be so easily given away, described, or disseminated. These will be the kinds of things that require lengthy training, contemplation, complex problem-solving, inter-personal relations, person-to-person contact, and an understan- ding of health ecosystems both locally and in the broadest possible global sense. In Norway, the pandemic triggered phy- siotherapists to change their approaches as clinics and practices were closed down (by the health authorities). Digital platforms, especially video consultations, were seen as a possible way to stay in touch with patients in primary as well as secondary health care. And thanks to the initiative of some physio- therapists working in private clinics, health authorities decided to support video consul- tations with tariffs that funded physiothera- pists for their digital communications with patients. Before resolving this payment issue, physiotherapists in private clinics had been working for free because they could not let down their patients needing treatment and follow-up. So almost overnight, Norwegian physiotherapists could do what many doc- tors working in primary care had been doing for more than two years, and offer individual digital treatment consultations. But how has this digital shift changed the ways physiotherapists approach their patients? In a series of YouTube interviews physiotherapists elaborate on their experi- ences of using video consultations. These were physiotherapists working in different areas of clinical practice, including psycho- motor physiotherapy, manual physiotherapy, children’s physiotherapy, and sports physio- therapy. 1 What is interesting with these in- terviews is how the physiotherapists’ notions of hands-on and hands-off therapy are chan-