Exploring potential for physical activity promotion through professional volunteering in Australian Physiotherapists: a national survey

Background: Volunteering positively affects physical and mental health of both volunteers and recipients through social interaction, support and physical activity. Physiotherapists’ volunteering has enormous potential to improve health outcomes in communities as they are perfectly placed as health professionals to design activity programs and promote physical activity and health in community.
Purpose: To explore evidence of current volunteering among Australian physiotherapists and investigate potential for future recruitment in promotion of physical activity programs.
Method: We surveyed physiotherapists across Australia (n = 520) who are members of Australian Physiotherapy Association.
Results: The most common respondent characteristics were Australian born (95%), female (54%), aged 25–34 years (46%), married (74%) working full time (78%) as a clinician (49%) in public sector (37%). Half (50%) reported current volunteering with 96% of those who don’t volunteer reporting interest in future volunteering. Almost all physiotherapists (94%) considered volunteering as a physiotherapist in the future with face-to-face mode being a preferred mode of delivery (60%). The main enablers are suitable activity or field of interest (27%) and availability/spare time (21%).
Conclusion: Half of the surveyed physiotherapists already volunteer professional skills to their communities, and they, as other health professionals, are largely motivated by altruism and helping others. These characteristics make them suitable recruits for volunteering in health. Physiotherapists’ dominant volunteering interests are in sport, promotion of physical activity, working with the disabled and ageing population, and community events. Their attitudes towards volunteering are community-oriented and express their responsibility to make a difference through professional volunteering.
Practical implications: Professional volunteering and promotion of physical activity by allied health professionals, specifically physiotherapists, is occurring in various settings however it is not well documented in scientific literature. More scientific evidence is needed to support volunteering as an innovative model of promoting physical activity and healthy ageing.
Funding: Nil