Ang Therapist

Quoted below is the latest news from the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) regarding the Coursework Evaluation Tool (CWT). The CWT  is the reliable tool used for evaluating whether the credentials of foreign-educated physical therapists are substantially equivalent to those of graduates of U.S. CAPTE-accredited programs.

Board of Directors Update Coursework Evaluation Tool Effective April 1, 2008
(Updated on 12/18/2007, Originally Posted on 12/6/2007)

At its October 11. 2007 conference call, the FSBPT Board of Directors increased the current credit requirements in the Coursework Evaluation Tool effective April 1, 2008:

1. General coursework: From 54 to 60 credits
2. Non Clinical Professional Education: From 46 to 67 credits
3. Total Professional Education: From 69 to 90 credits
4. Total General and Professional Education: From 123 to 150 credits

Rationale: The FSBPT Delegate Assembly adopted the 4th Edition Coursework Evaluation Tool (CWT) in 2004, and delegated the responsibility of reviewing and updating the CWT to the FSBPT Board of Directors. The current minimal standard for physical therapist education on the CWT is 54 credits in general education and 69 credits in professional education. The professional education credits include a minimum of 800 hours (16.6 credits) of supervised clinical training. CAPTE adopted new criteria for physical therapy education programs in January 2006. This proposed increase reflects the current minimum credit hours in a US physical therapy education program as reported by CAPTE.

Note: This does not change the course content of the 4th Edition of the Coursework Evaluation Tool. It only changes the required credits in general and professional education. For this reason, the 4th Edition remains the current CWT. The Board of Directors is currently evaluating the need to change the course content based on when US trained physical therapy students will graduate from programs that have implemented the new 2006 CAPTE evaluative criteria. When this occurs, the Board will adopt the 5th Edition of the CWT.

Click here to view the 4th edition of the Coursework Evaluation Tool (effective April 2008).

Source: FSBPT

Time & place
28 February 2008 at the Holiday Inn, Bristol

Conference format
This study day, organised by the Ergonomics Society, is aimed at people who would either like to start doing health-based ergonomic workplace assessments, or would like to improve their practice. This includes therapists, nurses, ergonomists, and health & safety practitioners.

Format
The format of the day is a mix of practical workshops and lectures, providing plenty of opportunity to experiment with new skills, discuss specific areas of assessment, and network with colleagues. The lectures and workshops will follow the process of assessment through to recommendations, and will include sessions on:

• The assessment process and notation of findings. This session will help you structure your assessment. Is it always necessary to use a recognised assessment, and do these assessments fulfill your needs?
• Understanding the impact of static and dynamic work on the musculoskeletal system. Many activities include components of both static and dynamic muscle activity which impact on the body in different ways. However, the complexity of these forces is often overlooked during assessment.
• The identification of physical risk factors in the workplace, especially in the use of office furniture. A practical workshop highlighting the different forces generated by the body during different activities.
• Assessment of the hand and upper limb in the workplace, identifying risk factors and possible solutions.
• Assessment of the back and lower limb in the workplace, focusing on seating.

Conference programme
09.00 Registration
09.30 Welcome Address by Sarah Woodbridge
09.35 Professor Sayeed Khan
10.15 Introduction to the workshops’ objectives
10.55 Break
11.10 Workshops

• Workshop 1: “Assessment of a factory based packing task, identifying and quantifying the risk” including task analysis/identifying actions, locating the risk and exploring methods of returning people to work. Facilitated by Mike Fray, Margaret Hanson and Sarah Woodbridge.

12.40 Lunch
13.30 Workshops

• Workshop 2: “Upper limb workshop”, solutions and ergonomic interventions, case studies. Facilitated by Sarah Woodbridge.
• Workshop 3: “Lower limb/back workshop”, solutions and ergonomic interventions, case studies. Facilitated by Mike Fray.

14.50 Break
15.10 Workshops

• Workshop 2: “Upper limb workshop”, solutions and ergonomic interventions, case studies. Facilitated by Sarah Woodbridge.
• Workshop 3: “Lower limb/back workshop”, solutions and ergonomic interventions, case studies. Facilitated by Mike Fray.

16.40 Closing Remarks 

Sarah Woodbridge is an Occupational Therapist / Ergonomist specialising in upper limb injury and conditions. Based both within the health service and industry, she has many years of experience in work assessment, rehabilitation, and hand therapy. Sarah is also a tutor at Derby University’s MSc Hand Therapy course.

Costs
Members of Ergonomics Society, NHS, CSP, & COT: £158.63 (£135 +vat)
Non members: £205.63 (£175 +vat)

Registration
On-line registration is now open. Click here for more information.

Source:   The Ergonomics Society

There is direct proportional relationship between the prevalence of falls and the population’s age. As the US’ population ages, the rate of falls rises as well. However, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) suggests that physical therapist intervention may help reduce the incidence of falls.

Here’s how:

Physical therapists Marilyn Moffat, PT, PhD, professor of physical therapy at New York University, and Carole Lewis, PT, PhD, GCS, professor in the department of geriatrics at George Washington University, authors of Age-Defying Fitness, say that you have to train your balance in the same way you have to train your muscles for strength and your heart for aerobic capacity.

According to Moffat and Lewis, balance may be improved with exercises that strengthen the ankle, knee, and hip muscles and with exercises that improve the function of the vestibular (balance) system. Moffat and Lewis suggest starting with a simple assessment of your current ability to maintain good balance. With a counter or sturdy furniture near enough to steady you if necessary, perform this test:

1. Stand straight, wearing flat, closed shoes, with your arms folded across your chest. Raise one leg, bending the knee about 45 degrees, start a stopwatch, and close your eyes.

2. Remain on one leg, stopping the watch immediately if you uncross your arms, tilt sideways more than 45 degrees, move the leg you are standing on, or touch the raised leg to the floor.

3. Repeat this test with the other leg.

4. Compare your performance to the norms for various ages: 20 to 49 years old (24 to 28 seconds); 50 to 59 years (21 seconds); 60 to 69 years (10 seconds); 70 to 79 years (4 seconds); 80 and older (most cannot do this test).

To improve balance and reduce falls risk, physical therapists may recommend stability and strengthening exercises; a formal exercise program; a walking regimen that includes balance components such as changes in surfaces/terrains, distance, and elevations; Tai Chi (which emphasizes balance, weight shifting, coordination, and postural training); and aquatics classes geared toward balance and coordination.

APTA Toll-Free Hotline
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) will sponsor a national toll-free hotline addressing ways to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls on Friday, February 8, from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm, EST. Physical therapists will answer questions about the risk factors of falling, how the body maintains its balance, and how older adults can help to improve their balance and reduce the risk of falling. However, please note that this public service by the APTA is not a substitute for a visit to a physical therapist or other health care professional. The toll-free number is 1-877-NEED-A-PT (633-3278).

Source: APTA

Crossing the border between two different countries is never easy. You might even need plasma cutting to get those gates to open in order for you to cross over. Anyway, the following advisory may help ease your travel woes by getting you prepared for all those identity checks.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is a U.S. law that will require all travelers, including U.S. and Canadian citizens, to present a valid passport or other secure document when traveling to the United States from within the western hemisphere. The Canada Border Services Agency has issued this advisory for Canadian citizens traveling to the U.S. by land or water.

Attention: Canadian citizens traveling to the United States by land or water
As of January 31, 2008, if you travel to the U.S. by land or water, a U.S. law will require you to present:

• a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s licence; AND
• a birth certificate or a citizenship card; OR
• A valid passport;OR
• A NEXUS or a Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card;OR
• For those 18 and under, a birth certificate.

Canadian citizens flying to or through the U.S. must present a valid Canadian passport.

To find out more of the document requirements and to help you plan for your U.S. travel, please visit or call:

www.canada.gc.ca
1 800  O-Canada (1 800 622-6232)
TTY 1-800-926–9105

Source: Canada Border Service Agency

It looks like we are now entering the very high-tech age of managing stroke patients. Researchers are now trying to employ robots in rehabilitation.

Using robots in a therapeutic role in neurorehabilitation, particularly for stroke, is based on the premise that repeating limb movements can help to recover motor control. However, stroke is the most common cause of severe disability in the UK, and physiotherapists are in short supply. So if patients can retrain limbs with the aid of a robot but overseen by a professional physio, then more patients can get more out of rehab programmes.

Hermano Krebs is a principal research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is one of the leaders in robotics, with a broad research base to his work. It’s what pioneers in the UK are building on today and everyone who’s anyone in therapeutic robots will at some stage pass through his lab.

‘We started here in 1989 back when I was a student at MIT,’ he says. ‘We introduced a paradigm shift in the use of robots for rehabilitation.’ Previously, they had been used as assistive devices: helping people with a spinal cord injury to feed themselves or as a prosthesis. ‘Our idea was to introduce a tool to help clinicians increase their productivity and make more efficient use of their time.’

Initial trials of a robot-assisted arm and shoulder exercises were with sub-acute patients with a localised lesion. Patients who had the added robot therapy showed twice as much improvement as those who did not.

Source: Frontline

However, none of them have ever been used in the actual settings yet. All results have been based on clinical trials. Click here to read more.

Call for opinions
What are your thoughts on robots in rehabilitation? Do you think they will ever become a reality? Are you willing to work with robots? How do you think therapists and patients will accept them?

Tell us your thoughts by leaving us a comment. We’d love to hear from you!