The Physical Therapist

Basic Tools to Start Home Care Physical Therapy Services

2011-11-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

Before a Physical Therapist can offer Home Care Services, he/she should have the basic tools needed to assess and treat a patient. Here is a list of the most essential and easy to find one:

1. Stethoscope

A stethoscope is used for heart and lung assessment and is also important when listening for the Korotkoff's sound during blodd pressure assessment. You can buy this from local medical supplies stores.

2. Sphygmomanometer

A sphygmomanometer is used to assess for blood pressure. You can choose between an aneroid sphygmomanometer (shown in the picture) or mercury sphygmomanometer. The advantage of aneroid is its portability because of its light weight. Its disadvantage is that you always have to check if it is calibrated unlike the mercury. If you are planning to buy a mercury sphygmomanometer, make sure that it is not prohibited in the area where you are practicing because of the risk of mercury toxicity when mishandled. You can buy this from a local medical supplies store.

2. Stopwatch

A stopwatch is essential for measuring pulse rate, respiratory rate and for timing the duration of exercise and electro/physical modalities. You can but this from sports shops.

4. Goniometer

A goniometer is used to measure joint range of motion. A smaller sized goniometer is used to measure for finger joint range of motion. You can buy this from a medical supplies store.

5. Tape Measure

A tape measure can be used for a lot of assessment purposes such as chest expansion measurement, leg length measurement, range of motion assessment of the back and spine and for assistive device and wheelchair measurement.

6. Heat Pad

A heat pad can be used for pain relief, muscle relaxation, and other therapeutic regimes. You can buy this from a medical supplies store.

7. Electrical Stimulation Unit

This can be used for pain relief, to delay muscle atrophy or for muscle re-education. You can buy this from a medical supplies store.

8. Dumbells

Dumbells are used for upper extremity strengthening. Different weights come in different colors. You can buy this from a sports shop.

9. Theraband

A theraband can be used for upper extremity and lower extremity strengthening exercises. Available in sports shops.

10. Gait Belt

A gait belt is essential when ambulating patients for safety and prevention of falls. You can buy this from a medical supplies store.

What exactly is Dyspraxia? - Speech Language Videos - Media Viewer :: PutMeBackTogether.com

2011-11-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

What exactly is Dyspraxia? - Speech Language Videos - Media Viewer :: PutMeBackTogether.com

Fashion for Healthcare Professionals

2011-04-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

The fashion magazine, Marie Claire, has featured an article on an interview with Project Runway’s Tim Gunn talking about giving health care fashion an upgrade in its April 2011 issue.

source: http://angtherapist.com/archives/2167

Why Physical Therapists are Different from Massage Therapists

2011-04-21T03:19:00.000-07:00

Touch is a very important part of human contact. It helps us feel connected and loved by those around us. Massage uses touch through rubbing or kneading of parts of the body to aid circulation, relax the muscles, or provide sensual stimulation. Massage is one of the oldest, simplest forms of therapy. The basic goal of massage therapy is to help the body heal itself and to increase health and well-being.
Sometimes, people tend to equate physical therapists with massage therapists because both professions perform massage. What are the differences between the two professions? Why should people not call physical therapists as masseurs and massage therapists as physical therapists?

Massage Therapists

   A massage therapist is a professional who performs massage and bodywork. The field of massage therapy is quite large, running the gamut from therapists who perform basic Swedish massage to people trained in more esoteric fields like trigger point. A massage therapist's goal is usually to relax his or her client while promoting general health and well being. Some branches of massage therapy are focused on treating specific health conditions, and on addressing congenital muscular problems.
   People have been performing massage and bodywork on each other for thousands of years. A friendly human touch is believed to be important to psychological as well as physical health. Several cultures have developed their own distinctive branches of bodywork, such as lomi lomi in Hawaii and Shiatsu in Japan. Bodywork is often integrated into a greater holistic healing practice, like Traditional Chinese Medicine. Many people around the world consider massage as an important part of their personal health and beauty regimen.

   As part of a massage therapist's job, he or she works with a wide range of clients. Many people seek massage therapy purely for relaxation and comfort, but some people come to a massage therapist for deeper work. A massage therapist uses his or her training to treat clients on an individual basis. He or she may work as a freelancer or in a spa or medical clinic, charging varying fees for different services. Some therapists offer additional services like facials, and body treatments to supplement their massage practices.
   Training requirements to become a massage therapist vary; some regions regulate massage closely, while in others licensing is more lax. Many schools of massage offer basic certification programs which can be built upon to learn additional techniques like deep tissue massage or traditional massage like Thai massage or acupressure. Training also includes a familiarity with the anatomy and physiology of the human body, and a discussion of unique conditions which concern massage therapists, ranging from muscular tension to cancer. A good massage school also offers workshops in ethics and business practices.

Physical Therapists

   Physical therapists are licensed professionals who work with people that have sustained disabilities, impairments, or limitations in their overall physical function. These deviations can be the result of disease, injury, or pathological processes. Physical therapists examine, evaluate, diagnose, develop treatment plans, and provide prognosis for each patient on an individual basis. Through the modalities of exercise, mobilization, manipulation, heat, cold, and electrical stimulation, physical therapists work to restore function, improve mobility, and decrease pain with the goal of re-establishing a patient’s prior functional level.
   Physical therapists focus on the evaluation of strength, balance, range of motion, co-ordination, endurance, and posture of each individual patient. From this initial examination, the physical therapist then develops a treatment plan specific to correcting pertinent physical findings. Each patient’s individual treatment plan is geared toward reaching specific rehabilitation goals that are set by the therapist and the patient together as a team. However, the physical therapist will help in determining realistic goals through their knowledge of pathology and prognosis.
   Rehabilitation strategies often involve specific exercises to stretch and strengthen muscles as well as to improve posture, balance, and endurance. Physical modalities including heat, cold, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation are also incorporated into most treatment sessions. Traction machines and massage are two other valuable techniques for functional improvement and pain reduction. Assistive devices such as crutches, canes, and walkers are often used to increase patient independence.
   Over the course of the rehabilitation period physical therapists document progress, re-evaluate physical findings, and modify treatment strategies as appropriate. They often work as a team with a variety of other professionals including physicians, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and recreational therapists all with the same goal of reaching maximal patient functional independence.
   In order to work as a physical therapist, one must first graduate from a physical therapist educational program with a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree. Coursework includes biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as specialized courses such as biomechanics, neuroanatomy, human growth and development, manifestations of disease, examination techniques, and therapeutic procedures. In order to practice, graduates from physical therapist programs must pass national and state licensing exams. In order to retain their licenses, many states require PTs to take continuing education classes and attend workshops.
     On a typical day a physical therapist will:

examine patients' medical histories
test and measure the patients' strength, range of motion, balance and coordination, posture, muscle performance, respiration, and motor function
determine patients' ability to be independent and reintegrate into the community or workplace after injury or illness
develop treatment plans describing a treatment strategy, its purpose, and its anticipated outcome

Who are Physical Therapists, and What Do They Do?

2011-04-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

DEFINITION OF PHYSICAL THERAPY

The Guide to Physical Therapy Practice developed by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) defines physical therapy as follows:

"Physical therapy includes diagnosis and management of movement dysfunction and enhancement of physical and functional abilities; restoration, maintenance, and promotion of optimal physical function, optimal fitness and wellness, and optimal quality of life as it relates to movement and health; and prevention of the onset; symptoms, and progression of impairments, functional limitations and disabilities that may result from diseases, disorders, conditions or injuries."

SCOPE OF PRACTICE
Physical therapy is defined as the care and services provided by or under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist.

Physical therapists are the only professionals who provide physical therapy.
Physical therapist assistant. (PTAs)-under the direction and supervision of physical therapists-are the only paraprofessionals who assist in the provision of physical therapy interventions.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONSPTs are professionally educated at the college or university level. In most countries like the Philippines and United States, PTs are required to be licensed in the country or state in which they practice. Education programs for the preparation of physical therapists have been recognized in some manner since 1928, when the APTA first published a list of approved programs.

PRACTICE SETTINGS
Physical therapists practice in a broad range of inpatient, outpatient, and community-based settings.

Hospital
Hospitals may be classified in a number of ways, including by:

Length of stay (short-term or long-term) Acute care (short-term hospital): An acute care hospital can be defined as a facility that provides hospital care to patients who generally require a stay up to 7 days, and whose focus is on a physical or mental condition requiring immediate intervention and constant medical attention, equipment, and personnel. Following a stay in the acute-care hospital, the patient is typically discharged to home or to another health-care facility. Subacute: Medical care is provided to patients who require more than 7 but less 30 days' stay in a hospital, and who have a more stable condition than those receiving acute care.
Teaching or nonteaching Teaching: A hospital that serves as a teaching site for medicine, dentistry, allied health, nursing programs, or medical residency programs. Nonteaching: A hospital that has no teaching responsibilities or one that serves as an elective site for health-related programs.
Major types of services: general, or specialties such as psychiatric, tuberculosis, maternity, pediatric, and ear, nose and throat (ENT).
Type of ownership or control: federal, state, or local government; for-profit and nonprofit

Home Health Care
Home health care involves the provision of medical or health care by a Home Health Agency (HHA), which may be governmental, voluntary, or private; non-profit or for-profit. Home care services were introduced to reduce the need for hospitalization and its associated costs. An HHA provides part-time and intermittent skilled and nonskilled services on a visiting basis to persons of all ages in their homes.

School System

The major goal of physical therapy intervention in the school is to enhance the child's level of function in the school setting.
The physical therapist serves as a consultant to teachers working with children with disabilities in the classroom. Recommendations are made for adaptive equipment to facilitate improved posture, head control and function.

Private Practice
Private practice settings are privately owned and free-standing independent physical therapy practices.

Practice settings vary from physical therapy and orthopedic clinics, to rehabilitation agencies.
Documentation is required for every visit.

Life as a Physical Therapist in the Philippines

2011-04-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

   Its summer time in the Philippines... its so hot and my laptop is almost on flame. Even though the climate is not comfortable and all the people are are going crazy finding ways to cool themselves, I decided to create a blog about my profession.

   I am a physical therapist. I never thought when I was young that I will be one, but I guess I was born to be one. I take it more as a vocation, to serve God by helping people recover from their disability, prevent onset of disease and help people make the most out of their lives through physical fitness.

   During college years, I was not really an achiever. I'm not good in memorizing medical terms, muscle attachments and pathologic processes. I really can't grasp the sense of these knowledge while sitting in the classroom listening to the lecture or reading text books. I can say that I'm a late bloomer. The only time I realized the importance of studying anatomy, physiology, clinical assessment and therapeutic management is during clinical internship where I was able to stand face to face with a complex human being with a physical condition who is in need of my help. So, to overcome my weaknesses in academic knowledge... every time I handle a patient, at night I will go to my books and study about the patient's condition, what are the risks and contraindications for that case and what therapeutic management I will use.

   Life as a Physical Therapist in our country is not really financially fulfilling. After graduating from a 5 year course and passing the licensure exam, it is not easy to find a job with salary. Most of the time, an entry-level physical therapist needs to work as a volunteer in a hospital or clinic without any salary. One is lucky enough to have a food or transportation allowance. In some facilities, the therapists are the ones who pay training fees so that they can enter as volunteers. Then, after 1 or 2 years of volunteering, Filipino physical therapists apply as clinic or hospital staff if there's an open slot in the facility.

   To be able to earn extra while volunteering or working in a hospital, Filipino physical therapists engage in Home Care Physical Therapy services. Patients who cannot come to the hospitals or clinics for treatment can make an appointment with a licensed therapist. Some of the referrals are coming from the hospitals where the PT is working/volunteering, some are from other hospitals, some are patients who found the therapist's advertisement and others heard through words of mouth.

   Its a bit sad seeing that our country is suffering from brain-drain because most of our therapists work outside the country. Some of the reasons why PTs fly out of the country is because of low salary, slow professional growth, inability to practice clinical decision making and wrong perception of the public about our profession. When people ask me what my profession is, after answering that I am a physical therapist, the usual response from them is, "So your a masseur!"

   Physical Therapy in our country needs some make-over. That's the reason why I created this blog. I want to promote our profession and create awareness about physical conditions that can benefit from physical therapy intervention. This blog is a work-in-progress and a journey... I hope I can share more for the world, one blog at time. Thank you and God bless us all!