Soon after Joanne Parsons [BMRPT/03, M.Sc./09, PhD/14] made the move from clinical physiotherapy to academia, she initiated a research project at a Winnipeg high school.
She was struck by the finding that girls were often intimidated to use the school’s weight room because of the unwelcoming environment and the attitude of many of the boys.
“Sports injury prevention is all about getting people stronger,” she says. “But if this is what girls are experiencing in the weight room, why would they want to submit themselves to that?”
Parsons, an associate professor of physical therapy, joined the College of Rehabilitation Sciences in 2014.
Recently, her research focus has been on the effect of gendered environments (settings such as gyms that reflect stereotypical gender roles and gender bias) on injury risk among female athletes.
In 2021, she co-authored a paper with two British professors, challenging the traditional view that girls are more prone than boys to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury solely because of their hormones and biology.
The paper, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, argued that gendered expectations of physical abilities; inequitable access to funding, training, and facilities such as weight rooms for women’s sport; and gender-based differences in post-injury rehabilitation all play roles in the higher rate of ACL injury for girls and women.
The paper attracted considerable international attention and won two prizes from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Parsons and her team recently developed an online exhibit with the UK Sports Institute on the experiences of female Olympic athletes. Drawing upon interviews with 20 athletes from 11 sports, More Than Medals tells stories about women’s challenges in gendered environments. Its themes include stereotypes, physiology and unequal power dynamics.
“The hope is that coaches, parents, and others involved in sport can hear these stories and reflect on their own environments.”
Parsons, who grew up in Birtle, Man., played volleyball and other sports in high school. She started her career in athletic therapy, working with sports teams. After moving into physiotherapy, she became interested in research as a way to make change.
“Advocacy is the common thread that goes through my work,” says the professor, who has been published in journals such as the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy and the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine.
One area she’s passionate about is the need for physio services through the public health-care system for those who can’t afford private care.
She has a forthcoming paper in Physiotherapy Canada on how outpatient physiotherapy services in Manitoba were affected by the closure of most of Winnipeg’s hospital-based clinics in 2017.
Her team found that initial physiotherapy assessments conducted per month in Winnipeg dropped by 85 per cent, meaning many in need are likely not receiving care.
“A substantial proportion of this population may not be able to afford $80 to $120 for one private physiotherapy assessment or treatment, never mind transportation and other barriers.”
The next step is an advocacy plan to try to get some of the publicly funded services reinstated.
“People are falling through the cracks,” Parsons says. “We need to let the powers that be know that this needs to be addressed.”
BY ALAN MACKENZIE