{{short description|German physiotherapist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Berta Bobath | image = Berta Bobath therapist.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = December 5, 1907 | birth_place = Berlin, Germany | death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|1|20|1907|12|5}} | death_place = London, England | death_cause = | other_names = | known_for = Bobath concept of rehabilitation | education = | employer = | occupation = | party = | boards = | spouse = Karel Bobath | partner = | children = 1 | parents = }} '''Berta Bobath''', <small>MBE</small> (December 5, 1907 – January 20, 1991) was a German physiotherapist who created a method of rehabilitation and therapy<ref name=odnb/> known as the Bobath concept in 1948.<ref name=csp/> The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy believe "it is the most popular approach for treating neurologically-impaired patients in the western world."<ref name=csp/>
==Life== Berta Ottilie Busse was born in Berlin where she first worked with gymnasts. Her first husband was Kurt Roehl. After the birth of a son and a divorce she left Germany in 1938. She re-met a Czech psychiatrist called Karel Bobath whom she had known in Berlin. They were both Jewish refugees and they married in 1941 and her son was adopted by her second husband.<ref name=odnb>Anne Pimlott Baker, "[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/49584 Bobath, Berta Ottilie (1907–1991)]", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2010, accessed 7 Sept 2015</ref>
She had an early success in restoring the abilities of Simon Elwes, who was a successful portrait painter who had suffered a large stroke. With Bobath's help he was able to recover sufficiently to continue painting.<ref name="Haines2001"/> The Bobath technique was first described in 1948.<ref name=csp/> Bobath then took formal qualifications in physiotherapy in 1950. She opened her clinic in 1951 with Karel as an honorary consultant.<ref name="Haines2001">{{cite book|author=Catharine M. C. Haines|title=International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HftdjMNDvwIC&pg=PA38|date=1 January 2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-090-1|pages=38–39}}</ref> She continued to work with stroke parents and with children with cerebral palsy at what was called the Western Cerebral Palsy Centre. At the clinic, they ran courses for doctors and qualified therapists who want to learn about their particular approach to regaining capabilities.<ref name=pal>{{cite book|last1=Rubinstein|first1=Simon D.|title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History|isbn=0230318940|page=110}}</ref> She developed techniques that assisted patients to gain or regain facilities.<ref name=csp/><ref name="Haines2001"/> She was helped by her husband who was able to theorise why her treatments were successful. In 1965 she published ''Abnormal Postural Reflex Activity Caused by Brain Lesions''.<ref name=odnb/> In 1975 the clinic became the '''Bobath Centre''' and it moved to Hampstead. Berta was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1976 and she was made an MBE in 1978. Boston University gave her a doctorate in 1981 and she and Karel were the first couple to be given the Harding award for their work in helping people with disabilities.<ref name="Haines2001"/>
Bobath died in London on the same day as her husband. They were both ill, and they took drug overdoses.<ref name=odnb/> Their son, Brett, is a current physical therapy student.
==Legacy== The '''Bobath Centre''' continues to run and the Bobath name is well-known;<ref name=csp/> for instance, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy has said of the Bobath concept that "it is the most popular approach for treating neurologically-impaired patients in the western world."<ref name=csp/> There is a view that Bobath's techniques may be no better than other techniques, although they may be no worse. Critics believe that therapists are not using evidence-based techniques.<ref name=csp/> Others believe that Bobath's approach should be updated rather than abandoned.
While Karel and Bertha Bobath were not alone in this endeavour, their approach was highly influential in introducing Developmental Movement concepts into treating various conditions, and for movement learning in various fields. For example, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen a modern dancer and Occupational Therapist, introduced Bobath concepts into the field of contemporary dance and dance therapy where this work still continues to evolve. Another example is Gray Cook, a physiotherapist who was a major figure in Functional Training, who was also influenced by Bobathian concepts.<ref name=csp>"
[http://www.csp.org.uk/frontline/article/bobath-under-fire A debate about the Bobath concept is inflaming passions across Europe, Daloni Carlisle talks to people on both sides of the dispute]", Chartered Society of Physiotherapy</ref>
==Selected works== * Abnormal postural reflex activity caused by brain lesions, 1965 * Adult hemiplegia : evaluation and treatment, 1970 * Hémiplégie de l'adulte : bilans et traitement, 1973 * Anomalies des réflexes de posture dans les lésions cérébrales, 1973 * Motor development in the different types of cerebral palsy, 1975 * Desarrollo motor en distintos tipos de parálisis cerebral, 1976 * Die motorische Entwicklung bei Zerebralparesen, 1977 * Motorische ontwikkeling bij cerebrale verlamming, 1978 * Hemiplejía del adulto : evaluación y tratamiemto, 1982 * Développement de la motricité des enfants IMC, 1985
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobath, Berta}} Category:1907 births Category:1991 suicides Category:1991 deaths Category:Health professionals from Berlin Category:German physiotherapists Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Drug-related suicides in England Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire