Committee
President: Rose Boucaut (Australia)
Rose Boucaut, Dip Tech Physio, Grad Dip Advanced Manipulative Therapy, MPH, Ed D, is a fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists and a longstanding member of Occupational Health Physiotherapy Australia (OHPA), the national special interest group. Rose worked on the OHPA professional standards sub-committee to develop professional practice standards for OHPA members.
As senior lecturer at the University of South Australia, Rose coordinates the final year course Work Health and Safety Practice. The unique aspect of this course is that final year students work on small projects with industry partners.
As the lead facilitator of the World Physiotherapy Occupational Health and Ergonomics Network Rose has worked towards this World Physiotherapy subgroup formation since initial discussions at the World Physiotherapy congress in Vancouver (2007).
Vice president: Yvonne van Zaanen (Netherlands)
Yvonne van Zaanen is a Physical Therapist in Occupational Health & Ergonomics (Dutch specialized register SRBF) for 20 years now. In 2015 she completed the academic master in Evidence Based Practice (Clinical Epidemiologist) and her research at the Coronel Institute for Occupational Health. Her main focus is on prevention of musculoskeletal complaints & work disability prevention in combination with ergonomics.
Since 2017 she participated in the working group and worked joyfully with this highly motivated team towards establishment of the IFPTOHE. ‘Working together with this inspiring team and colleagues from all over the world will give our profession the opportunity to move faster towards evidence based practice for our profession.’
In 2018 she was elected for a second term being president of the Dutch association of PT in OHE (NVBF).
Executive member: Shane Meys (New Zealand)
Shane is a passionate Occupational Health Physiotherapist based in Tauranga, New Zealand. He motivated to work towards greater awareness and impact of Occupational Health and Ergonomics within New Zealand and globally. This includes education and promotion of our value and expertise amongst workplaces and associated key stakeholders.
His interest and drive for positive solution focused change led him onto the Physiotherapy New Zealand Occupational Health Group Committee as well as involvement in national and international working groups. He enjoys all the learning, growth and development within these groups. In addition, being able to direct energy towards proactive projects, with the intention to inform and implement effective systems and models of practice for optimal experiences and outcomes is a motivator for him. Most recently these projects have included contributing towards the Occupational Health Physiotherapy in Aotearoa New Zealand Practice Guidelines, Global Standards for Occupational Health Physiotherapy Practice as well as Physiotherapy Medical Certification work within New Zealand.
Shane completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Sport and Exercise and are due to graduate with his Master of Health Practice in 2025 with a dissertation looking into medical certification processes and how Physiotherapy can add value in this space. He is a proud husband and father of two and enjoy family time, socialising with friends and being active in the outdoors.
Research: Vasiliki Sakellari (Greece)
Professor Vasiliki Sakellari is a faculty member at the Department of Physiotherapy at the University of West Attica (UniWA), Greece, where she is the Director of the Postgraduate Program "New Methods of Physiotherapy" and the Erasmus Coordinator for the Department of Physiotherapy.
Vasiliki holds a master's degree in Ergonomics from University College London and a Ph.D. from the University of London, Institute of Neurology. She has worked as a physiotherapist at the Prefectural General Hospital of Lamia and contributed to European research programs, including FP7 and the Human Capital and Mobility program. She also coordinated the ESPA-funded research project McHeELP, which focuses on fall prevention for the elderly.
In addition to her research, Vasiliki teaches Clinical Education in Neurological Physiotherapy, Ergonomics, and Consulting in Physiotherapy. She has also lectured in Ergonomics at Kingston University London.
Since 2021, Vasiliki has been an active member of the IFPOHE Executive Committee, contributing to the World Physiotherapy Congress in Dubai and organizing webinars. She was instrumental in establishing the Greek Occupational Health and Ergonomics Physiotherapy Working Group (HOHE) and served as its first president.
Secretary: Marisa Coetzee (South Africa)
Marisa has been a Physiotherapist for 12 years with clinical experience in primary health care as well as occupational health, ergonomics and functional capacity evaluation. She is currently a registered PhD student and lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town.
She served as the chairperson for the Occupational Health Special Interest Group (OHSIG) as part of the South African Society of Physiotherapy (SASP) for 3 years before the group changed into the Occupational Health Network (SASP) for which she is a facilitator.
Her goal is to improve the education and recognition of occupational health within the field of Physiotherapy, especially in South Africa and envision this subgroup as a platform on which international collaboration and the dissemination of knowledge within the field could be accomplished.
Executive member: Claudia Patricia Rojas Silva (Columbia)
Claudia is a Physiotherapist with a Master´s degree in Occupational and environmental health.
She is also an instructor of Health and Work practice in Physiotherapy program at the Universidad del Rosario Bogotá-Colombia, with more than ten years of experience, performing this role in manufacturing companies in the food, pipeline and education sectors.
Her experience has allowed her to make intervention proposals, as well as the design and execution of projects framed in promotion of health and prevention of illness in the labor sector, taking into account the particular needs of the companies.
Claudia is a founding member of the interest group on Physiotherapy in Health and Work of the Colombian Association of Physiotherapy (ASCOFI). and she envisions her contributions to IFPOHE to be through her experience in University teaching, as well as her perspective on the professional practice of physiotherapists in Latin America countries. She will also be able to support communication with Spanich-speakings members countries.
Executive member: Beatriz Sanz-Bustillo Aguirre (Spain)
Beatriz Sanz-Bustillo Aguirre (PT BSc, Occ. Risk Prev. MSc, PhD candidate) is member of the Spanish Association of Physiotherapists. Working as physiotherapist within the medical service of the Ministry of Defence of Spain and as Associate Professor at the Physiotherapy Department of San Pablo CEU University (Madrid, Spain).
Actively engaged in fostering the role of physiotherapists in the area of occupational health and ergonomics e.g. through the following activities: PhD project (Advanced Formation in Occupational Health Physiotherapy); foundation of an official national subgroup in this field (in progress); and research (recent focus topics: education, cross-country comparisons, and injury prevention in the military context).
As Spain’s IFPTOHE representative since its foundation in 2019, actively collaborating with its activities (1st and 2nd General Meetings, Webinar 2022, website contents). Willing to expand this collaboration by devoting hard work, effort and commitment for the sake of IFPTOHE’s promotion and the fulfilment of its vision and mission.
Executive member: Tracey Atkinson (UK)
Tracey is an experienced Occupational Health physiotherapist of 26 years, with a post graduate qualification in Occupational Health Physiotherapy and Ergonomics and have worked in a variety of business sectors. Her current role is the National Occupational Health Clinical & Governance lead for a private Occupational Health company based in England.
She joined the ACPOHE (Association of Chartered Physiotherapist in Occupational Health & Ergonomics) executive committee 8 years ago as membership secretary. She recently presented at a webinar for the IFPTOHE on the UK ACPOHE Competency framework, what it is, how it works and an overview of Membership levels that link to the competencies. She is involved in the working group for standardising competencies for Occupational Health Physiotherapist globally. She feels her experience and knowledge within the Occupational Health can support the growth of committee.
Executive member: Rosimeire Simprini Padula (Brazil)
Rosi is a Physiotherapist with a Master's and PhD in Physiotherapy, with an emphasis on Occupational Health and Ergonomics. She completed her postdoctoral studies in the USA in Occupational Biomechanics and Ergonomics. She is a Professor of the Physiotherapy Course and the Master's and PhD Programs in Physiotherapy at UNICID, São Paulo, Brazil Rosi is also the President of the Brazilian Association of Research and Postgraduate Studies in Physiotherapy (ABRAPG-Ft).
She does research and work in practice with companies/industries in evaluation and intervention research and worker health. She is also a reviewer for the journal Ergonomics and Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation and represents the AFB (Brazilian Association of Physiotherapists) at IFPOHE.
She is currently the scientific director of the Brazilian Association of Occupational Physiotherapy and believes that her knowledge and experience in research, and practice, as well as having access to physiotherapists and students could contribute to advancing knowledge from the perspective of the subgroup, working with professionals, and helping with advances in research.