Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation Special Interest Group (SIG) Update

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

These last 2 years were difficult years, but we are still a big IUGA family and a very active Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation SIG.

We chose to do joint activities with doctors, physiotherapists, and nurses with the intention of, more than ever, encouraging the sense of being together in the same association and working as a team to take care of our patients with more wisdom and with more interaction of all.

For sure COVID didn't bring us much closer in face-to-face events, but we remained firm and active with meetings and discussions through the International Symposia, Virtual Annual Meetings, and other interesting meetings endorsed by IUGA. The Associations BICAP in Belgium, NVFB in The Netherlands, the Woman’s Health and Pelvic Floor Association in Brazil participated actively.

Over the last 2 years, several colleagues among us have continued to publish on rehabilitation, both in the IUJ and other important journals in our field.   You can be proud of pelvic physiotherapists as well as the multidisciplinary team.

Online activities grew a lot and there was no lack of ideas or imagination to captivate the attention of listeners, whether doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, or patients. Physiotherapy was extremely significant during the pandemic when the hospital was not always available, or surgeries were postponed for a long time. Physiotherapists showed our ability to adapt and help. The IUGA Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation SIG continued its activities and now is stronger than ever and needs you to participate and help in this new era of hybrid (virtual plus face-to-face) activities, showing our integrated value including medical doctors, nurses, midwifes, physiotherapists and other relevant health care professionals.

My sincere thanks go to all of our active SIG members, but I especially want to acknowledge the contributions of Bary Berghmans, Hedwig Neels, Cristiane Carboni, Cristine Homsi Ferreira, Chantalle Dumoulin, Angie Rantell, Ranee Thakar, Kary Bo, Jorge Haddad, and Luis Brito. Believe me, the list of contributors is really enormous, and their contributions keep IUGA and physiotherapists stronger and part of a big team. Our ambassadors from each country are extremely important for the continuity of the discussions on rehabilitation in their countries and encouraging IUGA activities. Now is the time to think about our future. I invite all to help keep up the good spirit, friendship, and collaboration as together we strive to provide the best possible evidence-based care to our patients.  

• IUGA Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation SIG activities from 2020-present include: A successful symposium in Brazil to benefit FIUGA with more than 100 participants online. View at http://inspirar.rds.land/18-11-2020-webinar-doando-conhecimento-acoes-do-bem.
• Participation on the organizing committee and program of the IUGA International Symposium, A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Prevention and Management of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, March 13-14, 2021.
• Participation as Chair of the 8th International Congress in Pelvic Physiotherapy Brazil with several IUGA members, September 15-19, 2021.
• Participation in the virtual 2021 IUGA Annual Meeting
• Participation in the IUGA International Symposium, Birth & Beyond, March 13-14, 2022.
• Organization with ABAFI-Holland and Inspirar and participation in symposium of Bary Berghmans, March 30-31, 2022, endorsed by IUGA.
• Participation in the BICAP Congress, endorsed by IUGA.
• Increase in the number of IUGA pelvic physiotherapist members through advertising in social media and meetings.

With gratitude to you all, and special thanks to my co-chair, Hedwig Neels,

Maura Seleme