PT/OT Intervening Early for Better Mobility in CP March 06, 2018 by Elena Noble, MPT
A young girl with cerebral palsy receives early intervention gait training services while walking in a pink Pacer.
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...
PT/OT Child-focused vs Context-focused Intervention February 13, 2018 by Carlo Vialu, PT, MBA
A young girl smiles as she sits in her activity chair in the cafeteria during her child-focused intervention curriculum.
In a fascinating research project, Law and colleagues set out to test the efficacy of context-focused intervention.¹ What is the context-focused approach? In this approach, the primary therapist (either an occupational or a physical therapist), works with the parents to identify tasks the child is interested in learning. The therapists assists to identify task and environmental modifications and...
PT/OT Busting that Persistent Myth about Adaptive Bikes and Recreation July 18, 2017 by Codi Andersen, DPT
A young boy in a blue shirt and shorts rides on a green adaptive bike as his therapist helps to push him for functional mobility exercise.
I love the adaptive tricycle and the opportunities it affords many of my students. But how often have insurance companies denied requests for adaptive tricycles because they only see the recreational purpose? For my students with the most severe disabilities, the tricycle is a life-saver, and often the only piece of adaptive equipment that will help them achieve functional gains and participation. I&rsquo...
PT/OT Safe Patient Handling and Movement: Effectively Using Gait Training Equipment August 27, 2013 by Lori Potts, PT
safepatientgaittrainingrehabilitationtram_feature
It is an exciting time in the field of rehabilitation. For people who have sustained a neurological injury such as a stroke, incomplete spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury there is now hope for regaining the ability to ambulate and sometimes even achieving a full recovery. In the past, a neurological injury was viewed as irreversible, and rehabilitation was focused on helping patients adapt and...
PT/OT Compensation and Recovery September 18, 2012 by Gilbert Thomson, PT
compensationrecoverytherapyrehabilitation_feature
Should PTs train for compensation or recovery? Clinicians today are debating whether interventions should focus on teaching whatever is required to accomplish a task (compensation) or promote the neuroplasticity needed to allow the task to be accomplished “normally” (recovery).There is a great dialogue on this topic posted on the Journal of Neurologic PT (JNPT) discussions page which I highly...
PT/OT Beyond the walker November 08, 2011 by Lori Potts, PT
quadwalkersnotaseffectiveasgaittrainersfeature
Minnesota Clinic gets Better Outcomes from Smarter Gait Training than from Traditional Quad Walkers Contributed by Nicole Grant, PT Courage Center, Golden Valley, MN As a physical therapist here at Courage Center in Golden Valley, Minnesota, I see many adult patients with significant motor deficits. For gait training, traditional four-wheeled walkers and rolling platform walkers provide stability, but not...