Majority (89%) of Canadians Would Want to Have Access to Athletic Therapy if They Got Injured and Think it Should be Added to the Options Available in Employer Health Insurance Plans (91%)
Almost all Canadians want health plans to cover a range of treatments and would want to have access to Athletic Therapy if they got injured.
Toronto, ON, June 4, 2024 – A new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association finds almost all Canadians (96% total; 62% strongly/35% somewhat) want health plans to cover a range of treatments and nine in ten (89% total; 42% strongly/47% somewhat) would want to have access to Athletic Therapy if they got injured.
Almost half of Canadians (47% total; 19% strongly, 28% somewhat) say they have been injured in a way that impedes or has impeded them from being fully functional at work, at home or at play. Almost all Canadians (96% total, 53% strongly/ 43% somewhat) agree that different forms of physical therapy are important to maintaining or returning to good physical health. This is higher among women (98% vs. 94% men).
Almost all Canadians want health plans to cover a range of treatments so that employees can access the treatment that works best for them (96% total; 62% strongly / 35% somewhat). A similar proportion agree it is important that people have access to personalized treatment plans (97%), but to have this without breaking the bank - when people spend money on physical therapies, nine in ten (93%) think they should be able to able to claim it on their income tax. Those more likely to agree with this include women (96%, vs. 89% men) and those aged 55+ (95%, vs. 93% of those 35-54 and 90% of those 18-34).
While most Canadians say they have heard of Physical Therapy (88%) and Occupational Therapy (73%), just under a half (47%) say they heard of Athletic Therapy, and far fewer (10%) have heard of Active Release Therapy. Those who have heard of Athletic Therapy (47%) mainly describe it as a type of treatment associated with sports-related injuries and athletes (43%), while 7% have only heard the name.
Once Athletic Therapy is described to them, nine in ten Canadians (89% total; 42% strongly, 47% somewhat) say they would like to have access to it if they got injured.
Almost all Canadians (95% total; 59% strongly, 36% somewhat) agree that it is important that Athletic Therapy is provided by trained and certified professionals, with almost the same proportion (94% total; 55% strongly/ 39% somewhat) agreeing that it is important that Athletic Therapists are overseen by a professional body.
Those aged 55+ (98%, vs. 95% of those 35-54 and 92% of those 18-34) are more likely to agree that it is important that Athletic Therapy be provided by trained and certified professionals, and that the Athletic Therapists should be overseen by a professional body (96% of those aged 55+, 93% aged 35-54, and 91% aged 18-34).
Similar to other treatments, Canadians think Athletic Therapy expenses should be covered, with over half (92% total; 53% strongly/ 39% somewhat) agreeing that people should be able to obtain a medical expense tax credit for Athletic Therapy, just as they do for other types of physical therapy. Nine in ten (91% total; 46% strongly 45% somewhat) think Athletic Therapy should be added to the options available in employer health insurance plans.
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 10 to 12, 2024, on behalf of the Canadian Athletic Therapists Association. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Senior Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs Canada
+1 416 324 2002
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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