Xavier Oliver, who led the Department of Physiotherapy from 2018 to 2022, has just published Anatomía del respeto. Ética y convivencia en Fisioterapia (Anatomy of Respect: Ethics and Coexistence in Physiotherapy). The book addresses a concern shared by many professionals: the sense that something important has been lost in how physiotherapy is understood and practised.

In this work, Oliver looks at how relationships within the professional community have changed. Rather than focusing on technological, clinical or academic developments, he highlights a more fundamental issue: the gradual decline in mutual respect, open dialogue among colleagues and the shared sense of purpose that supports the profession.

“This book responds to the need to pause and consider what kind of profession we are shaping, and the role respect plays in that process,” the author explains.

With a critical, rigorous and humane approach, the lecturer examines several features of contemporary physiotherapy, including growing individualism, the normalisation of insecure working conditions, silence as a way of adapting, and the influence of social media on how the profession is perceived and valued.

Across nine chapters, Anatomía del respeto combines ethical reflection, conceptual analysis and recognisable situations from everyday professional practice in order to raise challenging but necessary questions. “The aim is to encourage readers to think collectively about how to strengthen a profession in which care is one of its fundamental values,” Oliver notes.

Aimed at healthcare professionals, lecturers, students, universities and professional bodies, the book sees Xavier Oliver encourage discussion and critical reflection on the current challenges facing the field.