Have you ever considered what physical activity is like for the visually impaired? I recently had a conversation with a woman classified as legally blind due to a progressive visual impairment. When my profession came up, we started to talk about the challenges she faces concerning her ability to get regular physical activity. She, for […]
Pelvic health physical therapy has an interesting history. In my experience, it’s a service that many therapists are not interested in providing, and it encompasses issues that are not often talked about. But it seems to keep coming up in my world. At least two people I talked to in preparation for my Professional Resolutions […]
As we prepare to celebrate this country’s Independence Day, I started to think about the freedoms we have in this nation. How does this translate into access to physical therapy? How does it compare to access to physical therapy around the world? Global Physical Therapy A survey by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy in […]
Public service is defined as the business of supplying a commodity to any or all members of a community. Does physical therapy qualify? Well, I think our knowledge and skills can certainly be considered a useful and valuable thing (a commodity). Physical therapists also provide an act of helpful activity (a service) and are accessible […]
Burn-out among physical therapists is on the rise. I even hear talk of it amidst my peers. It’s a sad thing that such a caring, healing, and skilled profession, one that helps heal and restore function across a broad-reaching population, is being faced with this problem. However, I can understand it. Reimbursement rates go down […]
As a physical therapist, I have had the personal pleasure and professional luxury of working with occupational therapists in the settings where I work and have worked. This interprofessional collaboration can often be a learning experience for both clinicians, while at the same time optimizing outcomes for patients. I had the opportunity to talk with […]
In school we were taught to assess the joints above and below the affected joint; this is a good starting point and accounts for all of our 2-joint muscles, but I would argue that the connections of the body should drive us to look even deeper than that. Our body is a whole unit and […]
This month I want to piggyback on the topic of resolutions I started in January’s blog, but this time, instead of our own goals, I want to talk about our role in promoting health and balance for our patients. Statistics show that 48% of people that make resolutions make them specifically about losing weight. That’s […]
This is the time of year we are making resolutions for the new year ahead. Most of the standard resolutions are related to our personal lives, but what about our work lives? What about professional resolutions for physical therapists? I believe having a goal helps to give us purpose, and can help to reinvigorate our […]
Is it ok for a physical therapist to have a patient as a friend, or a friend as a patient? It turns out that is a complicated question. In healthcare it is expected that practitioners will maintain a professional boundary with patients, keeping our personal lives separate. Why? Objectivity can help us to make difficult […]
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