Life can change suddenly. One moment you feel like yourself, a bit over-committed, a bit tired sometimes maybe, but able to engage with family, work and friends. Then, something happens—an accident either at work or play—and what used to be manageable becomes… oof.
According to a recent Ipsos survey, nearly half of Canadians (47 per cent) have experienced injuries that hinder their ability to work or engage in regular activities. Recovery options vary, but one approach, which has been proven in professional sports, deserves more attention: athletic therapy.
But wait, I hear you say, weren’t we talking about half of Canadians a moment ago? Not everyone is an athlete! Well, certified athletic therapists do adhere to the sports-medicine model of care, meaning that they focus on getting people who have been injured back to fully functional as quickly as possible. But a certified athletic therapist treats all kinds of patients, from children with concussions to seniors recovering from hip-replacement surgery. While for some, fully functional means returning to competitive sports; for others, it’s as simple as being able to enjoy the walk to the coffee shop.
Getting back to normal isn’t just about quality of life—it has economic implications, too. In 2018, injuries in Canada cost an estimated $29.4-billion, including $20.4-billion in health care expenses, and $9-billion in productivity losses, hospitalizations, and long-term disabilities.
Extrapolating those costs down to the community level is a bit difficult, but data is readily available for one sizable sector of our local economy: public sector employees.
There are 155,505 public sector staff in Ottawa. The average age of federal public servants in Ottawa is around 44 or 45 years old, with a significant portion between 40 and 49 years old. This age range is often associated with an increased risk of injury due to sedentary or repetitive work.
So, it is perhaps unsurprising that public sector employees miss an average of 13.4 days per year due to illness or disability. Some quick math (155,505 staff multiplied by 13.4 days) tells us that there are some 2,083,767 days lost in this city per year by this one sector.
While we can’t know the exact proportion of missed days that’s associated with injury rather than illness, the estimated cost per day, as calculated by the Government of Canada, can range between $300 to $400 for lost productivity, temporary replacements, and other indirect costs. Even a modest reduction in absenteeism would yield significant economic benefits.
As a sports medicine physician in Ottawa, I have referred many athletes to athletic therapy, and the feedback has always been overwhelmingly positive. I know that certified athletic therapists have top-notch skills, that they create individualized treatment plans that effectively address the specific needs of each patient to assist with return-to-play, and that they achieve impressive recovery outcomes.
In addition, athletic therapy is widely accessible and offered by certified athletic therapists across Canada at comparable rates to some better-known physical therapies.
I get asked sometimes what the difference is between athletic therapy and physiotherapy. Physiotherapists have a broader focus including neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory issues. Athletic therapists have a tighter focus on musculoskeletal injuries, especially those related to sports and physical activity. With athletic therapy, the treatment may be more dynamic and focus on return to activity in a stepwise way.
I am a firm believer in people having access to options so that they can get the treatment that works best for them. I wish everyone knew about athletic therapy and that more benefit plans included it. Imagine the potential productivity boost if all public sector employees could access athletic therapy under their health plans? Adding it to their benefits could shorten recovery times, thereby reducing long-term absences and saving public funds.
The Canadian Athletic Therapists Association is running a campaign right now called “Move Freely. Live Fully” to make athletic therapy better known and more accessible. By supporting this campaign, we can help ensure that everyone who has been injured has access to effective specialized care and can quickly return to being fully functional.
Because sometimes change starts with a simple question. In Saskatchewan, athletic therapy was added to the group benefits plan that covers 44,000 health-care system workers simply because one plan member asked.
So, let’s ask! Let’s ask the federal government to make it explicit that Canadians can obtain a medical expense tax credit for athletic therapy, just as they do for other types of therapy.
Let’s advocate for athletic therapy in our own benefit plans. Let’s make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to get back in the game.
Dr. Taryn Taylor is the team physician for the Ottawa 67s OHL, the Ottawa RedBlacks CFL, the PWHL Ottawa, the Ottawa Black Jacks (CEBL), and Carleton University’s varsity teams, as well as the chair of the USPORTS’s sport medicine and research science committee.
The Hill Times