INTERNATIONAL BOBATH INSTRUCTORS TRAINING ASSOCIATION
An international association for adult neurological rehabilitation
April Newsletter
Executive Committee
Congress and AGM 2026 in Hanover, Germany
The 42nd IBITA AGM will be held on Friday 28th August 2026 at MHH Hanover (Hanover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg Strasse 1)
The Congress will open on Wednesday evening 26th August with a Welcome party. This will be followed by educational days on 27th and 29th August and the AGM on 28th August.
Here is the LINK for detailed information. Registration is open.
New Qualified Instructors
We would like to congratulate Cecilia Löfgren from Finland who qualified as Advanced Course Instructor in March 2026 and Sara Fabian from Canada who qualified as Basic Course Instructor in March 2026
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This platform is designed to provide a quick and reliable way to keep all our instructors around the world informed with the latest updates, announcements, and important information from the Executive Committee.
Link to Join the IBITA WhatsApp Community
Course Exemptions
Please submit all course exemption requests to the IBITA Chairperson Marc Michielsen – [email protected]
Publishing IBITA recognized courses
According to the passed motion 10.1. at the 41st AGM in Tokyo, all IBITA-recognized courses must be advertised on the IBITA website. Please publish all the co-instructors or/and instructor candidates who are actively involved in teaching. If you need help, please contact the IBITA Secretary Victor Urquizo – [email protected]
New Tabs on the website
To facilitate your access to relevant documents for basic and advanced courses we create new tabs on the website. You can download the documents as necessary including the new IBITA certificates. You can fulfill it and download it as a PDF-File.
Creating an IBITA Certificate
The steps are very easy. Just fulfill the spaces and create a PDF-File for every participant.
Optional: You can add the Logo and the Name of the Organization.
Please use only these certificates and don’t translate them into your language. The official IBITA Certificate is in English.
Please note that an advanced course certificate can only be signed by an ACI or SI, not by ACIC
Instructor Training Committee
The ITC is pleased to offer two Instructor Training Modules in Jesteburg, Germany, in 2026.
While the BCIC Training Module is now full, registration remains open for the Advanced Training Module. LINK
Theme 2026: Movement Analysis and Task Performance Applied to Advanced Clinical Reasoning and Practice in the Bobath Concept
This Advanced Training Module is designed for Instructor-Candidates, Advanced Course Instructors, and Basic Course Instructors who have taught a minimum of five Basic Courses. The module focuses on deepening movement analysis during task performance and integrating this analysis into advanced clinical reasoning and hands-on practice.
Participants will engage in:
Applied theory–practice through structured tasks
Patient demonstrations and supervised treatment sessions
Advanced use of the Model of Bobath Clinical Practice (MBCP)
Collaborative group work and critical clinical reflection in an international learning environment
Feedback from the previous ITC Module highlights the learning experience:
“The applied theory–practice through tasks and the MBCP analysis with the demo helped me connect concepts and strengthen my clinical reasoning.”
“It was a really well-thought-out and wonderful course… an interactive learning environment.”
“You give us very helpful information in theory background, helping to improve our analysis and handling skills.”
Important dates
Registration will close on 15th April 2026, earlier than in previous years. Places are limited, and the module will only run if adequate registration is confirmed by this date
Registration details are available on the IBITA website under Instructor Training / ITC Modules.
Research Committee
The Research Committee remains eager to enable the sharing of research activity within
the IBITA membership. We therefore invite ALL members who are producing research
to consider:
– A call for researchers to present their work in a webinar.
– A call for members currently conducting research to inform the RC.
– A call for members who would like their Bobath-related papers uploaded to the library
folder.
Verona Research Group
We would like to thank everyone who replied to our questionnaire (100 responses).
We are very pleased to say that 44 members indicated that they were very interested in participating with many others saying they were somewhat interested. This is definitely enough interest to go forward with our plans. We are currently working out the next stage of our project including developing a training program (6 -8 online sessions) and ethics submissions.
We would like to clarify some changes to the protocol (now version 7, LINK) from the version circulated after the Tokyo AGM. Initially, the inclusion criteria was limited to patients who were new to the Bobath concept and who would not receive therapy based on the Bobath concept during the baseline or follow-up period. These restrictions have been removed, now only requiring that the patient does not receive Bobath therapy focused on the main outcome measure (gait or reach) during the baseline or follow-up period.
With regard to the timelines of the study, we anticipate starting data collection in the second half of this year and going for 2 years. Therefore, if you are unable to participate this year but might be able to next year, please let us know that you are interested. It is not too late to be part of the project (see the LINK “What does participating in the project mean?” for more details). We have expanded our group by inviting 3 IBITA members who were in contact with us after the Tokyo meeting. Our group now consists of Kim Brock, Julie VaughanGraham, Camila Torriani-Pasin, Agnieszka Sliwka, Orit Elion, Gabi Eckhardt, Cristina Soares and Samuel Jiminez. Please feel free to contact any of our group if you have questions or comments.
With thanks from the VRG
Nominating Committee
This month the Nominating Committee is pleased to share Megan Knox’s experience within the Qualification Committee. We hope you enjoy the read.
“I joined the IBITA Qualification Committee in 2023 after a request was made for representation from the African region. Although I initially felt quite overwhelmed and intimidated, the experience has been incredibly valuable and rewarding.
Through my involvement, I have gained a much deeper understanding of the current process required to qualify as an IBITA Instructor. I have appreciated the opportunity to engage with highly experienced and knowledgeable instructors, as well as reviewing submitted Portfolios of Evidence to ensure all requirements were met before final panel evaluation.
With only three active qualified IBITA Instructors in South Africa, we can often feel somewhat isolated and less connected to ongoing developments within IBITA. Being part of the committee has allowed me to stay informed about recent advances and to help align South Africa more closely with international standards. Which shall be an going process.
This experience has significantly strengthened my passion and motivation to grow as an instructor. With the encouragement and guidance of the committee members, I was inspired to attend both the Basic and Advanced Instructor Candidate Modules in Japan in 2025. Although the module content was entirely new to me, my prior involvement with the committee and familiarity with some colleagues made the experience both enriching and rejuvenating for my career. Onward and upward we Journey.Thanks for the opportunity. Megan Knox”
We would like to inform you that the following committee posts will become vacant this year ahead of AGM 2026:
In addition, the Social Media Committee will consist of 5 members and will also be open for members who wish to stand.
We warmly invite members who are interested in standing for one of these posts to express their interest via email to [email protected]
We now present a summary table of committee members whose terms are coming to an end, helping to identify the vacant positions for 2026.
| Committee | Member | Country | Term Status |
| Executive Committee (Secretary) | Victor Urquizo | Germany | End of first term |
| Verification Committee | Klaus Gusowski | Germany | End of second term |
| Appeals & Grievance Committee | Heike Abt | Germany | End of first term |
| Education Committee | Helen Linfield | UK | End of second term |
| Bobath Development Committee | Gakeemah Inglis-Jassiem | South Africa | End of second term |
| Nominating Committee | Francesco Inversini | Italy | End of first term |
| Research Committee | Kostas Kypriotis | Greece | End of second term |
| Research Committee | Paul Johnson | UK | End of first term |
| Peer Review Committee | Sara Guy | UK | End of second term |
| Instructor Training Committee | Monika Pessler | Germany | End of second term |
| Qualification Committee | Alena Scurrah | Australia | End of second term |
| Qualification Committee | Nabuhiro Hiura | Japan | End of first term |
| Qualification Committee | Elisabeth Swain | Canada | End of first term |
We would also like to highlight that positions are open within the new Social Media Committee, where 5 vacancies are currently available.
We kindly invite all members to review the Bylaws and Rules & Regulations available in the IBITA documents, in order to better understand the roles and responsibilities of each committee.
The Nominating Committee looks forward to hearing from members who would like to stand for a vacant position. We are also available for individual meetings or informal conversations should you wish to discuss your interest further. Please contact us via email at [email protected]
Other News
If you have any info for the May 2026 newsletter, please send it to Victor Urquizo at [email protected] by 15th May.