Skip to main content

October is National Physical Therapy Month.

Raise Awareness and Celebrate the Profession

Every October, we celebrate National Physical Therapy Month to raise consumer awareness about the many benefits of physical therapy. It's also a great opportunity to appreciate what PTs, PTAs, and students do to transform lives.

This October, APTA will highlight the importance of physical therapy in promoting resilience and supporting strength, mobility, and overall wellness throughout the lifespan to optimize the health span, the period of life when people are generally healthy and free from preventable chronic disease.

Our theme and new consumer awareness campaign, "PT For Future Me," highlights physical therapy's role in enhancing movement and function in people of every age and ability. It emphasizes prevention, wellness, and improving mobility and strength to support all aspects of work, life, and play.

To access our materials, visit ChoosePT.com/future-me.

PT For Future Me Toolkit

A ready-to-use member toolkit includes:

    • An FAQ to help address common questions about the theme
    • A customizable press release for local outreach
    • Downloadable social media graphics with sample-suggested social media copy for easy sharing
    • A downloadable infographic
  • A patient toolkit, including:
    • Information about physical therapy, PTs, and PTAs
    • Educational fact sheets organized by life stage
    • A discussion guide to help patients prepare for their first visit
  • Infographic

APTA National Physical Therapy Month Social Media Contest

Join us in highlighting physical therapy’s role in enhancing movement and function and promoting resilience through every phase of life. Help us spread the word about why physical therapy is important at every age and stage.

How to participate:

  1. Create an Instagram post that shows how physical therapy supports lifelong health at every age and stage. In your post, do at least one of the following:
    1. Tell a patient story from any life stage — childhood, young adulthood, midlife, or older adulthood.
    2. Explain how physical therapy addresses the unique needs of people at different ages.
    3. Show how your specialty helps patients stay active, independent, and doing what they love.

Make it clear: Physical therapy isn’t just for recovery — it’s essential for thriving at every stage of life.

  1. Include the hashtags #PTMonth and #PTForFutureMe, and #ChoosePT.
  2. Tag @official_apta in your post.

What you’ll win:

  • APTA will randomly select one submission each week, starting the second week of October, for a total of four winners.
  • We’ll share your post on the @official_apta Instagram.
  • At the end of the month, you’ll be sent a $50 gift card to the APTA Store!

Coming Soon

An animated video will be available soon. The campaign will be amplified through a national satellite media tour next week with a series of prescheduled, back-to-back media interviews with APTA spokespersons conducted with local and national TV and radio outlets across the country to elevate public awareness.

National Physical Therapy Month is supported by APTA insurance partner HPSO.

View highlights from 2024.

Get Graphics

Download NPTM-specific graphics from our Public Relations and Marketing Center to raise awareness and celebrate physical therapy. It's full of resources to promote the profession.

History

APTA and participating components began to celebrate Physical Therapy Week in the early 1980s. The week was initially observed in conjunction with APTA's annual conference in June and was later moved to October. The week evolved and the first NPTM was celebrated October 1992.

Share This