HOW THE ITALIAN PRESS MAKE SENSE OF PHYSIOTHERAPY AND THE PHYSIOTHERAPIST A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY FROM 1989 TO 2019.

IntroductionThe legitimation of a profession provides for legal, formative, ethical, self-regulating and socially recognized development, which must pass through the appropriate mass media communication channels. The purpose of this study is to investigate the way in which the profession of physiotherapist and physiotherapy as a science are communicated in the newspapers.MethodsA cross-sectional, descriptive, structured, anonymous, non-funded survey was conducted through the analysis of articles in the daily newspaper "La Repubblica" in 2 distinct periods. A 21-item questionnaire was used, in which a distinction was made between semantic characteristics and content. The differences in the way the physiotherapist as a professional and the discipline of physiotherapy as a science are evaluated before and after the recognition of the professional profile in Italy (1994).ResultsThere is an improvement in the way the physiotherapist as a professional is communicated (from 14.6% to 25%), while physiotherapy as a science does not show any significant changes (from 19.5% to 22.2%). There is a meaningful improvement in the communication of various fields from few to multiple. A significant article in communicating educational aspects is often associated with the transmission of the value of Physiotherapy in research (VC 0.598), and the same association occurs between prevention and education (VC 0.552), autonomy of the physiotherapist and communication of the physiotherapist as professional (VC 0.503).DiscussionThe evolution of the profession and of the discipline over time was not matched by an adequate improvement in communication by the newspapers. The term rehabilitation cannot be distinctive from nor synonymous with the discipline of physiotherapy, of which it is an integral part but which cannot be defined by it.