SUFT Congress 2025

The Next Best Interventions

Helsinki

Save the dates 6.-7.6.2025

The Next Best Interventions

Suft Congress 2025

Days

Hrs

Min

Sec

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FRIDAY 6.6.2025

8.00-9.00 registration

9.00-9.15 Opening ceremony:

09.15 -10.30 SESSION 1: Evidence based clinical practice in the wild

Evidence based practice should support clinical practice and clinical reasoning for a population of n = 1. This session will discuss the differences between evidence based practice (science) and clinical experience based practice, both are parts of the same entity but often separated. This session will debunk the fears of both supporting clinical practice and giving tools to the listener to support their professional development.

9.15-10.00 Evidence based approach research versus practitioner experience. Speaker: Evert Verhagen

10.00-10:30 Can we really do evidence based interventions? Speaker: Caroline Bolling

10.30-11.00 Coffee

11.00-12.30 SESSION 2: First impression counts and working in agile and lean approach maximizes chance of success without waste (time, resources, stress)

The first question any athlete will ask you is “When will I be back”, often sending the physiotherapist into cold sweat even an experienced one. A successful rehabilitation process and return to performance requires good planning, execution and above all, trust and buy-in from the athlete. This session will discuss the importance of an athlete centered approach in which the physiotherapist uses their soft skills and knowledge to create a realistic pathway to the ultimate long-term goal while setting the scene for short term goals with re-assessment and objective measurement allowing an agile approach. Keeping the rehabilitation process lean allows space for the athlete to optimize their timeline. The terms agile and lean are from software development but apply to the rehabilitation process.

11.00-11.40 ‘Translate the rehabilitation vision into achievable goals’. Speaker: Dave Fevre

11.40-12.10 ‘Approaches for programme planning with youth’. Speaker: Mandy Johnson

12.10-12.30 Discussion

12.30-13:30 lunch

13.30-15.00 SESSION 3: Early loading for optimal outcome

Loading an injured tissue supports the healing process and assists with return to peak performance. But how early is early, how to start and when to progress the loading? This session will discuss how to and the benefits of early loading for different tissues, evidence base and clinical experience. Examples of progressive loading for common injuries will be presented, as well as methods to support and facilitate early loading.

13.30-14.10 When can I load the tissue: model from muscle injury: Speaker TBC

14.10-14.45 “Evidence and implementation of early mobilization of ankle ligament injuries”. Speaker: Evert Verhagen

14.45-15.00 Discussion

15.00-15.30 Coffee

15.30-17.00 SESSION 4: Manual therapy is an essential tool in your tool box

The white elephant in the room of physiotherapy practice. “To put hands or not to put hands on?”, that is the question. Social media and strong opinions have split the profession but manual therapy remains an essential tool in the physiotherapists tool kit. This session will discuss how manual therapy should be used as part of sport physiotherapy practice, the benefits to the athletes, physiology and when to use it will be presented. The limitations and when manual therapy is not appropriate will also be discussed with plenty of time for panel discussion.

15.30-16.15 “Starting a new narrative for Manual therapy”. Speaker: Jo Abbott

16.15-16.45 Good Hands, Bad Hands, Trained hands. Speaker: TBC

16.45-17.00 discussion

GALA DINNER

SATURDAY 7.6.2025

9.00-9.05 Opening words

9.05-10.30 SESSION 5: Transition from therapeutic exercise to performance

Continuing from the afternoon session, this session will discuss the transition between therapeutic exercises and training for performance. This session will also discuss the challenges the physiotherapists have to balance treatment and performance. How to liaise with conditioning coaching to ensure treatment outcomes transform into measures of performance and training approach is continuous (following on from the discussion in session 2 on friday).

09.05-09.45 Fully functional rehabilitation. Speaker: Mandy Johnson

09.45-10.15 Working with the strength and conditioning coach for optimal transition. Speaker: TBC

10.15-10.30 Discussion

10.30-11.00 Coffee

11.00-12.30 SESSION 6: Keeping the athlete in the game

There are situations where the physiotherapist is the key for performance for a team and ensuring the athlete is on the pitch as much as possible or is able to compete in their individual event creates new challenges for the physiotherapist. This session will present how experienced physiotherapists have made the decision to allow an athlete to compete or not complete. Further, what clinical skills have been needed to to keep the athlete in the game for as long as possible.

11.00-11.45 “Managing the pressures and measuring outcomes in the rehabilitation pathway”. Speaker: David Ferve

11.45-12.15 “Florence Nightingale keeping the athletes in the competition”. Speaker: Jo Abbott

12.15-12.30 Discussion

12.30-13.30 lunch

13.30-14.45 SESSION 7: Developing Nordic expertise in action

The ability for an athlete to perform in different conditions is the key to consistent high performance. Like athletes, physiotherapists develop their skills through exposure to different ways of working, different experiences, through support and mentorship of those who have been there and done that. This session will present the methods experienced physiotherapists from the Nordic countries have approached different elements of clinical reasoning and professional development with practical case studies showing their approaches. This is part of the ongoing ERAMUS+ funded project between Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish sports physiotherapy associations.

14.45-15.15 Coffee break

15.15-16.50 SESSION 8: The Sports Physiotherapist is the pillar of support for the athlete

The physiotherapist is the central pillar in the rehabilitation process and should be the athletes’ rock and person of trust. Building this trust and demonstrating knowledge and skills have been discussed throughout the congress thus far. Additionally, how to maintain trust when the original plan goes wrong is also a skill which will be presented with examples. This session will close with a return to the first session on evidence based practice and how to progress what skills you have learnt during this congress and future skill development methods.

15.15-15.40 ‘Walking together with the athlete’. Speaker: Caroline Bolling

15.40-16.05 The physio Hub. Speaker: Mandy Johnson

16.05-16.30 Looking forward to a better future: closing remarks. Speaker: Evert Verhagen

16.30-16.50 Discussion

16.50-17.00 Closing remarks

SPEAKERS

Evert Verhagen

Evert Verhagen (1976) is a human movement scientist and epidemiologist. He is the UEFA Medical Research Advisor and holds a University Research Chair as a full professor at the Department of Public and Occupational Health of the Amsterdam UMC. He is the Editor in Chief of BMJ Open Sports & Exercise Medicine, the director of the Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports (one of the 11 IOC research centers), and director of the Amsterdam Institute of Sports Sciences (AISS). His research revolves around the prevention of sports and physical activity related injuries; including monitoring, cost-effectiveness and implementation issues. He supervises several (inter-)national PhDs and post-docs and has (co-) authored multiple peer-reviewed publications around these topics.

David FevreMSc MCSP SRP

David Fevre MSc MCSP SRP is currently working as a freelance clinician/lecturer in physiotherapy and sports injury rehabilitation. He has consultancy roles with several European, Premiership, WSL, Championship and EFL football clubs and is on the teaching faculty for both the Football Association (FA) and Rugby Football League (RFL). He was Head of Sports Medicine for Blackburn Rovers FC until January 2017, having been in post since July 1999. Prior to this, he was previously Chartered Physiotherapist for Wales (2002-2005), Manchester United FC (1994-1999), Great Britain Rugby League (1990-1994), Wigan RL (1989-1994) and Leigh RL (1984-1989). He worked in the NHS immediately after gaining his Chartered status and then within several sports injury clinics based in the private hospital sector prior to these full-time posts in elite sport.
He lectures internationally and in the UK on subjects related to sports injury rehabilitation, has had articles/research papers published in several rehabilitation related journals and is the author of the book ‘Collision Sports Injury and Repair.’ He is also an honorary lecturer at both Salford and Manchester University and was awarded the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Professional Football’ award in 2014 by the Football Medical Association (FMA) and ‘The Fabrice Mouamba Outstanding Contribution to Professional Football Award in the NW of England’ in 2015. In 2022 he was invited to speak at the world-renowned Oxford Union Debate on England’s participation at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Caroline Bolling

Caroline Bolling is a sports physiotherapist. She worked with elite athletes from diverse Olympic sports, was head therapist of Cirque du Soleil. She completed her PhD at the Amsterdam UMC, with qualitative studies on the experiences of elite athletes and artists about the prevention of sports injuries. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports, an IOC Research Center/Amsterdam UMC, working in multiple projects developing practice-driven research targeting sports injury prevention, RTS, complexity and qualitative research.

Amanda JohnsonPhD, Grad Dip Phys, MCSP, FHEA

Amanda Johnson PhD, Grad Dip Phys, MCSP, FHEA

Amanda Johnson is a physiotherapist with over 40 years’ experience in a variety of roles but
predominantly high-level sport. She has worked with the England Athletics and Great Britain
Aquatic teams including swimming and synchro swimming which was then followed by 10
years with the GB diving team.
She then moved into professional football and worked at all levels including 5 years as the
National team Physiotherapist for the England Ladies Team. This was followed by 10 years
as the senior physiotherapist at Manchester United Academy before a move to Qatar as
lead physiotherapist for the Aspire Youth Academy for 8 years. After Aspire she worked in
India setting up a youth football academy and has several peer reviewed articles published.
Her research interests and PhD are centrered around growth, maturation, and injury in
youth athletes and she has lectured at many international conferences on topics concerning
youth athletes
She is now a Senior Lecturer in the Physiotherapy department in the Faculty of Health and
Education at Manchester Metropolitan University and is a Fellow of the Higher Education
Authority.

Dr Jo AbbottPh.D

Dr Jo Abbott (Ph.D)

I am dedicated to improving the health, fitness, and well-being of people around the
world. Since 1991, my journey has evolved from being a sports performance
specialist and fitness professional to becoming a Clinical Biomechanist, Anatomist,
Nutritionist, Scientist, Researcher, Innovator, and Inventor.
With a Doctorate from the University of Chichester, my research focuses on the
critical role of clinical biomechanics in addressing Musculoskeletal ill-health. By
merging my background in engineering, human anatomy, and biomechanics, I
investigate ways to halt or reduce the premature ageing of biological tissues that
contribute to musculoskeletal issues.
Musculoskeletal ill-health is a growing global challenge, significantly impacting
individuals, businesses, and economies. My passion for tackling these issues led me
to work with Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service as their Musculoskeletal ill-
health Consultant. Over a 4.5-year period, I successfully implemented PhD research
paradigms that resulted in remarkable outcomes: a 63% reduction in days lost to
back pain, a 71% decrease in musculoskeletal disorders, and a 68% reduction in
minor illnesses within the first 12 months.

TBC

TBC

TICKETS

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VENUE

Urhea-halli

Mäkelänkatu 47, 00550 Helsinki

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CONGRESS CONTACT INFORMATION

Ben WallerChair of the Scientific Committee

congress(at)suft.fi

Simone KallonenChair of the Organizing Committee

simone.kallonen(at)suft.fi

SUFT CONGRESS

SUFT järjestää kerran vuodessa kansainvälisen urheilufysioterapiakongressin, jonka ajoittuu tyypillisesti alkukesään.

Ensimmäinen kongressi pidettiin vuonna 2015 Helsingissä ja jokaisena vuonna olemme saaneet esiintyjäkaartiin kansainvälisesti tunnustettuja urheilufysioterapian ja urheilulääketieteen auktoriteetteja.