In 2000, APTA was focused on strategic change. The organization felt change was critical to the future of the profession, the association, and the patients and consumers its members treat. As a result, APTA’s House of Delegates adopted “Vision 2020,” a new path forward for the profession. The vision included six elements, each containing goals that leadership hoped to achieve by 2020: direct access, evidence-based practice, professionalism, doctoring profession, autonomous practice, and practitioner of choice.
APTA Vision Statement for Physical Therapy 2020: Physical therapy, by 2020, will be provided by physical therapists who are doctors of physical therapy and who may be board-certified specialists. Consumers will have direct access to physical therapists in all environments for patient/client management, prevention, and wellness services. Physical therapists will be practitioners of choice in patients’/clients’ health networks and will hold all privileges of autonomous practice. Physical therapists may be assisted by physical therapist assistants who are educated and licensed to provide physical therapist-directed and -supervised components of interventions.
Guided by integrity, life-long learning, and a commitment to comprehensive and accessible health programs for all people, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants will render evidence-based service throughout the continuum of care and improve quality of life for society. They will provide culturally sensitive care distinguished by trust, respect, and an appreciation for individual differences.
While fully availing themselves of new technologies, as well as basic and clinical research, physical therapists will continue to provide direct patient/client care. They will maintain active responsibility for the growth of the physical therapy profession and the health of the people it serves.