Celebrating our past and looking to the future of Pelvic Health Physiotherapy!
ICS 2026 in Maastricht marks a very special milestone for our community: the 25th anniversary of the ICS Physiotherapy Forum.
This anniversary offers us a chance to celebrate the Forum and to consider how physiotherapy in pelvic health has advanced over the last 25 years in research, clinical practice, education, leadership, and its impact on healthcare systems globally.
How far we have come
Over the past 25 years, the evidence base underpinning physiotherapy management of pelvic floor dysfunction has grown substantially.
Pelvic Health Physiotherapists have played a key role in growing research related to urinary and faecal incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain, pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, perinatal pelvic health, post-operative rehabilitation, and various other fields of conservative pelvic health care. Crucially, this research has not only advanced our understanding of individual interventions. It has played a role in creating national and international clinical guidelines, recommendations, and care models, positioning pelvic health physiotherapy as a key part of the multidisciplinary team for preventing, assessing, managing conservatively, and rehabilitating individuals with pelvic floor dysfunction. As a result, the role of the pelvic health physiotherapist has continued to evolve.
Pelvic Health Physiotherapists now play a role throughout the patient journey, from prevention and early detection to assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, education, and supported self-management, and are also assuming growing responsibilities in research, service development, leadership, education, and advanced clinical practice.This evolution is reflected not only within pelvic health physiotherapy but also in the increasing visibility of physiotherapy and conservative care within wider multidisciplinary pelvic health pathways.
25 years of the Physiotherapy Forum
The ICS Physiotherapy Forum has grown alongside this evolution.
For 25 years, it has provided an international platform where physiotherapists can present emerging research, discuss developments in clinical practice, support the next generation of researchers, establish collaborations and strengthen our professional community within ICS.
It has also provided an important space for clinicians and researchers from different countries and healthcare systems to learn from one another and to explore how evidence can be translated into clinical practice.
Therefore, this anniversary presents an opportunity to both celebrate the Forum’s 25 years and recognise how the development of physiotherapy research has shaped current pelvic health care, while also looking forward to the future contributions of physiotherapy and rehabilitation over the coming 25 years.
The 25th Physiotherapy Forum
At the heart of our celebrations will be the 25th Physiotherapy Forum on Thursday 8th of October, from 09:00–12:30, followed by our Physiotherapy Networking Lunch.
This year’s Forum will bring together the next generation of researchers alongside established clinical and research leaders.
The programme will explore a broad range of topics, including bowel rehabilitation, pelvic floor muscle assessment, conservative management of pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic health in older adults, overactive bladder, inclusive rehabilitation and pessary use.
As always, the Forum will provide an opportunity not only to hear new research but also to discuss its implications for practice, meet colleagues from across the world and strengthen future collaborations.
And most importantly, the Physiotherapy Forum will give us the opportunity to reflect on this journey and recognise and celebrate the people who have helped shape it over the past 25 years.
Physiotherapy is not confined to the Physiotherapy Forum
One of the clearest signs of how the profession has evolved is that pelvic health physiotherapy and rehabilitation are now represented across the wider ICS scientific programme.
There are several sessions this year that will particularly interest physiotherapists, but these sessions are certainly not just for physiotherapists.
They will also be relevant to nurses, doctors, researchers and other healthcare professionals involved in conservative management, rehabilitation and functional recovery, particularly in healthcare systems where specialist pelvic health physiotherapy may not always be available and some components of rehabilitation are delivered by different members of the multidisciplinary team.
We therefore encourage delegates to look beyond sessions specifically labelled “physiotherapy” and explore the many opportunities for shared learning across the four days.
Tuesday 6th October
Rehabilitation, pain and the young patient
The conference begins with several workshops with a strong physiotherapy, rehabilitation and conservative-care focus.
These include:
• Navigating the Unique Challenges in Adolescent Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Management: Hands-On Course: This session considers the particular challenges of assessing and managing pelvic floor dysfunction in adolescents, including issues associated with sport and physical activity.
• Beyond the Pelvis: Non-invasive Conservative Care for Chronic Pelvic Pain — Bridging evidence, clinical practice, and access-friendly strategies: Chronic pelvic pain is an area in which multidisciplinary working is essential. This workshop provides an opportunity to consider evidence-informed conservative approaches and how these can be applied across different clinical settings.
Wednesday 7th October
Physical activity, ageing and conservative management
Wednesday provides another strong programme for anyone interested in pelvic health physiotherapy and rehabilitation care.
The ICS Physiotherapy Committee Workshop: “From trampoline to bench press and everything in between — what do we know about pelvic floor loading during physical activity?” will explore one of the most rapidly developing areas of pelvic health research.
As increasing numbers of women participate in recreational and competitive exercise throughout the lifespan, understanding the relationship between physical activity, pelvic floor loading and symptoms has become increasingly important.
Delegates can also take part in the “Pelvic Floor Exercise Class for Ageing Women: Tips, Tricks and Practice”, bringing together evidence, exercise and practical strategies for supporting pelvic health in later life.
The programme also includes Best of Conservative Management, showcasing emerging research across non-surgical approaches to pelvic floor dysfunction.
Together, these sessions illustrate the growing contribution of physiotherapy research to prevention, exercise, self-management and conservative treatment across the lifespan.
Thursday 8th October
Celebrating 25 years of the Physiotherapy Forum
Thursday places conservative care and physiotherapy firmly at the centre of the programme.
The day features the ICI Committee Report 8 on Conservative Management of Urinary Incontinence in Adults, leading into the highlight of our anniversary celebrations, the 25th Physiotherapy Forum.
At the Forum, research from emerging and established areas will be showcased, creating an opportunity to examine how evidence persistently shapes clinical practice.
Following the Forum, we warmly invite physiotherapists attending the meeting to join us for the Physiotherapy Networking Lunch.
This has always been an important part of the Forum, an opportunity to meet colleagues, welcome new members to the ICS physiotherapy community, exchange ideas and develop new professional and research connections.
Friday 9th October
Rehabilitation takes centre stage
Friday provides perhaps one of the clearest examples of how strongly rehabilitation is now embedded within the wider ICS programme.
New Insights into the Rehabilitation Following Radical Prostatectomy bring together rehabilitation, clinical and surgical perspectives to explore recovery following prostate cancer treatment.
The day also includes Advanced Practice Models in Physiotherapy and Nursing, reflecting the continued evolution of both professions within pelvic health and the increasing contribution of advanced practitioners to assessment, clinical decision-making, service development and multidisciplinary care.
Across the programme, there are also opportunities to explore pelvic pain, rehabilitation following major pelvic interventions, quality of life, and multidisciplinary models of pelvic floor care. These sessions demonstrate that rehabilitation is no longer viewed as something that happens only after treatment. Increasingly, it is integrated across the whole patient pathway , before, during and after medical or surgical intervention.
Physiotherapy is everyone’s business
Perhaps this is one of the most important messages we would like to share during our anniversary year.
Specialist pelvic health physiotherapists bring specific expertise in the rehabilitation of pelvic floor dysfunction and, where established, play a key role within the multidisciplinary team.
Access to specialist pelvic health physiotherapy varies internationally, and where this expertise is not available, other healthcare professionals may need to deliver elements of rehabilitation. For that reason, understanding the physiotherapy evidence base, rehabilitation principles and clinical reasoning that underpin effective, evidence-based care is valuable to everyone involved in supporting people with bladder, bowel and pelvic floor dysfunction.
The increasing presence of physiotherapy and rehabilitation across the ICS programme reflects this shared responsibility.
Celebrating the past and looking forward!
The 25th anniversary of the Physiotherapy Forum allows us to recognise how much has been achieved.
Over the past 25 years, physiotherapy research has grown substantially, contributed to international evidence and clinical recommendations, influenced models of care and helped establish physiotherapists as pivotal members of multidisciplinary pelvic health teams.
The Forum has provided a home within ICS where that research can be shared, debated and translated into practice.
We hope that ICS 2026 will provide an opportunity for pelvic health physiotherapists and colleagues from across the multidisciplinary community to learn together, share ideas, and continue shaping the future of pelvic health rehabilitation.
Come to the Forum. Join the workshops. Explore the Physiotherapy research. Participate in the conversations.
And most importantly, help us celebrate 25 years of the ICS Physiotherapy Forum and the people who have made that journey possible. The ICS 2026 Local Organising Committee has organised the ICS Community Party on Wednesday evening for the whole ICS community, with the 25th anniversary of the Physiotherapy Forum being one of the special milestones recognised as part of the evening’s celebrations.
Paula Igualada-Martinez Chair, ICS Physiotherapy Committee
On behalf of the ICS Physiotherapy Committee: Heidi FA Moossdorff-Steinhauser, Inge Geraerts, Linda Mclean, Marie-Pierre Cyr, Malgorzata (Gosia) Starzec-Proserpio, Javier Jerez Roig, Benedetto Giardulli, Magdaléna Hagovská, Paul Hodges, Frankie Bates