PT/OT

In this video series, Cathy Ripmaster, MSPT presents positioning tips and guidance for the different features of the Pacer gait trainer to address a variety of support needs.

Functional ambulation is a primary goal for people with disabilities. In today’s webinar, Lori Potts, PT discusses how incorporating dynamic movement contributes to effective gait training interventions.

Creative mobility initiatives and activity-based strategies can improve health and foster inclusion for children with disabilities.

I recently attended the annual American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting (APTA CSM) in New Orleans. Among the wealth of great programming, I chose a course looking at early intervention for children with cerebral palsy (CP), and I’d like to share a few points I took away. For therapy purposes, early intervention means providing services to a child before two years of age...

The Center for Neuro Recovery (CNR) in North Palm Beach, Florida, is not your traditional training and recovery center. It’s rated among the top training centers in the country with referrals from 54 national rehab hospitals and 17 international rehab hospitals, and it might be best described as a highly skilled comprehensive training facility for those willing to push the boundaries. CNR provides...

At our Therafit Rehab clinics in Maryland and New Jersey we specialize in treating children and adults with neurological disabilities such as cerebral palsy, stroke, TBI and Parkinson’s disease.  Time and again our patients tell us their number one goal for rehab is walking – whether for the first time, relearning to walk or just walking better. And it’s no wonder. Walking is an...

Whether assisting someone from a wheelchair to a mat table or the parallel bars, patient transfers are a routine part of all therapy interventions. But did you know that these transfers place a therapist at an extraordinary risk for work-related injury? Statistics show that caregivers engaging in manual patient lifting, transferring and repositioning activities beyond the 35-lb patient lifting maximum set...

Gait training is central in the rehabilitation of individuals with neuromotor disabilities. In clinical circles, there is considerable debate over whether gait training is best performed over a treadmill or over ground. Is one intervention more effective than the other? The research on this topic is inconclusive at best. What we do know, however, is that studies comparing the two gait training approaches...

Adaptive gait devices come with a wide range of positioning accessories for supporting upright and ambulatory postures. Of these, arm supports are frequently used to provide basic upper extremity placement and positioning. But when understood and used correctly, arm supports can do so much more, particularly when it comes to positioning in gait. Here they can assist with weight-bearing, stepping, head...

Building off the foundational concepts of neuroplasticity and motor learning, clinical gait training is an advancing intervention. With the aim to provide independence in gait and a full recovery for those with developmental or acquired disabilities, this discipline continues to incorporate new research and approaches into existing intervention protocols. In the last few years we’ve seen increased...