The nonprofit association, based in Alexandria, Virginia, seeks to improve the health and quality of life of individuals in society by advancing physical therapist practice, education, and research, and by increasing the awareness and understanding of physical therapy's role in the nation's health care system.
[1] APTA annually holds two large conferences and publishes the Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal, the leading international journal for research in physical therapy and related fields,[2] and APTA Magazine, a professional issues magazine providing legislative, health care, human interest, and association news.
[5] With the advent of World War II and a nationwide polio epidemic during the 1940s and 1950s, physical therapists were in greater demand.
Among the early sections were Schools (now the Academy of Physical Therapy Education) and Self-Employed (now APTA Private Practice).
[8] In 1976, the association launched an annual Combined Sections Meeting, informally known as "CSM," that is attended by physical therapists from around the United States.