Stephanie Lurch delivers keynote address at CPA Congress

Last week, Stephanie Lurch delivered a moving keynote address at the Canadian Physiotherapy Association Congress 2024 in Vancouver, BC.

In her talk, “Manifesto of a Critical Consciousness,” Lurch, who is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of Physical Therapy, draws on the different meanings of movement to explore ideas of injustice, interconnectedness, personal agency and liberation within the contested space of the physiotherapy profession. She says, “Movement is constant. It is crucial. And in physiotherapy, movement is everything.”

Using personal stories, metaphors and art, Lurch addresses difficult truths in the profession and urges physiotherapists to rethink how they live, work, learn and play and to take action to address injustices. Adding, “The greatest threat to our profession is willful ignorance and inertia.”

Lurch, who is also a founding member of The Black Physiotherapy Association, challenges physiotherapists to ask themselves, “Who is missing in this profession on the walls of your institution, in the classroom, leading the classroom, in the boardroom and in leadership? Who is poorly served or not served at all?”

Addressing the audience, Lurch emphasizes the need for individual action. “If you really care about the people you’re impacting, your words and actions can be transformative. Physiotherapy can be the most radical space of possibility in health care...if only we move.”

This was Lurch’s second time as a featured keynote speaker at the annual conference, attended by hundreds of physiotherapists and students from across Canada every year. Her talk was met with a standing ovation and invitations to talk internationally.

Within the department, Lurch is the Academic Lead for Equity, Anti-racism, and Social Accountability. She co-develops and delivers the SPEC (social, political, ethical, cultural) curriculum in our MScPT program, where she is recognized for integrating social justice and the arts into health care education.