Physiotherapist vetting:The Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP) has been recognised by the Garda Central Vetting Unit as a co-ordinator of Garda vetting on behalf of members.
ISCP president Jill Long said the development would help self-employed physiotherapists who were currently banned from applying for Garda vetting approval.
“The ISCP aims to clear this barrier by acting as the recognised intermediary for Garda vetting,” she said.
Ageing research funding:The Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (Cardi) has announced a new small grants programme to promote active and healthy ageing. It is offering up to €100,000 for research projects involving the use of existing data sources in Ireland.
Applications for individual grants range from €5,000 to a maximum of €20,000 available for a single project. The deadline for entries is noon on Monday, February 4th, 2013. See cardi.ie.
Weight gain:Being overweight is known to increase the risk of needing a knee replacement, but a new US study finds that knee-replacement surgery may also raise a person's risk of gaining weight.
Researchers, whose findings appeared in the journal Arthritis Care Research, analysed the medical records of nearly 1,000 knee-replacement surgery patients, and found that 30 per cent of them gained 5 per cent or more of their body weight in the five years following surgery.