Evidence Based Practice
Updates in Motor Learning
February 14, 2022
by Lori Potts, PT
Research continues to increase knowledge in the field of motor learning. Understanding the mechanisms of motor learning can contribute to therapist interventions to further promote motor skills.
Evidence Based Practice
Evidence Update: Stretching and Resistance Exercise in Children with CP
August 12, 2019
by Elena Noble, MPT
Improved joint range of motion (ROM) and strength certainly contribute to better functional outcomes in children with cerebral palsy (CP), but is stretching and progressive resistance exercise an adequate intervention to achieve the end? Previous research shows that children with CP have shorter hamstring muscles than their peers. A short or spastic hamstring muscle contributes to gait deviations, and...
Evidence Based Practice
Teens with Cerebral Palsy Benefit from Treadmill Gait Training – A Case Story
March 18, 2019
by Connie Johnson, PT, DScPT
As a pediatric physical therapist working in public schools, I want my students to move, and to move in the same way their peers do. When Rifton came out with the treadmill gait trainer, I was eager to explore increasing exercise intensity for my teenagers with mobility impairments. I was fortunate enough to get funding for one in my school. I went to the literature to look for protocols using gait treadmills for youth with disabilities and did not find much.
Evidence Based Practice
Prospective cohort studies can inform pediatric physical therapy practice
February 04, 2019
by Lori Potts, PT
The field of pediatric physical therapy has long recognized the difficulty of conducting high level research with the cerebral palsy population. Meeting the qualifications of a randomized controlled trial while implementing interventions with children with multiple physical disabilities – with all their varied daily realities – is extraordinarily difficult.
In turn, the systematic review that...