Academy of Pediatric PT Conference, never disappoints, 2018 was definitely a good one. I had several presentation opportunities.
My highlights:
1. At the Practice Fair, I shared how to Increase Exercise Repetition in Therapy Sessions. The premise is that we need to increase repetition for motor learning and that repetition is key to increase movement repertoire and fitness. I have two new strategies that I wrote about in the updated book. The handout is on the website for you to access.
2. I presented on Applying Population Health Frameworks in Pediatric PT Practice to Promote Child and Family Wellness. My co presenter, Dawn Magnusson, PhD, PT presented a whirlwind tour of Population Health Frameworks including the Life Course Framework. Population Health I shared some of the Fit4Work data on the progress students make on whole class interventions in collaboration with teachers, and then we shared a framework to consider how you can implement population health strategies within school based practice by identifying what you subjectively know about your population (complaints, concerns, challenges), objectively know (what statistics, analytics and research says, assessment (what you think this means, and then plan (make a plan to address the concerns. We enjoyed brainstorming with the group about how to implement strategies to address the issues at hand. I look forward to hearing how this worked for participants and to share this information in other lectures.
3. I really enjoyed the Keynote by Dr. James Rimmer from NCHPAD, a resource devoted to promoting physical activity for people with disabilities. Check them out for resources. He also spoke about 2 important resources: ADAPTE which can be used to adapt evidence-based guidelines produced in one setting for use in a different cultural and organizational context. I would suggest you do this with caution, as research on 6 Minute Walk Test has informed us that we can't use norms from other countries in the US. GRAIDS can be used to adapt programs for people with disabilities.
4. There were a lot of advocacy opportunities, from learning about advocacy to interacting with APTA leadership including APTA President Sharon Dunn, VP Public Affairs Katie Neas and VP Leglislative Affairs, Justin Elliott. At the Town Hall, participants had a chance to share concerns and needs. I feel like they are hearing the concerns of the pediatric physical therapists and the families we support.
5. PT diagnoses for pediatrics are coming: focus is on some of the Shirley Sahrmann work such as movement pattern coordination disorder, force production deficit, sensory detection deficit and fractionated movement disorder. There is still much work to be done...while I believe we need to identify the cause of movement dysfunction, our settings dictate we use language that families will understand.
APPTAC 2019 is in Anaheim, CA. The planning committee has lots in the works and I hope to be there! I am sure Sharon Dunn would agree!
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