Think Quick, Refer Quick: Early Screening for Neuromuscular Disorders

Presenter:
Aileen Jones, PT, DPT
Mandy Butler, PT, DPT
Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy

Course Description: New treatment options are now available and continue to emerge for people living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). This is an exciting time for individuals and their families, who have long held out hope for stopping or slowing down the progression of their disease.

• Therapists will demonstrate an understanding of the signs and symptoms of DMD as well as the current treatment options available for this population.
• Therapists will select the most appropriate screening and assessment tools available when evaluating a child with concerns for DMD.
• Therapists will be able to apply their knowledge to identify atypical neurological or developmental motor findings through a practical assessment.
• Therapists will be able to synthesize their findings to identify when a child should be referred to their pediatrician or a neurologist to perform further diagnostic workups.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: A Collaborative Approach to Pediatric Physical Therapy

Presenters:
Geoveddy M. Marte, PT, MS, DPT

Adrianne Moffitt, MSPT
Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy

Course Description: This will be an evidence-based interactive collaborative discussion using the educational model of PT service delivery as an instructional model to maximize collaboration across team members. This session will utilize a framework of high leverage practice for collaboration within the educational model and link the medical model of service delivery to emphasize the value of collaboration to improve patient/student outcomes as well as professional development within the practice of pediatric physical therapy. Discussion will include collaborative evaluations, interventions, goal planning and progress monitoring. Participants will come away with resources to operationalize collaborative teamwork in pediatric PT, particularly between school, home and medical community.

• Participants will use an evidence based practice collaborative framework, high leverage practice in clinical decision making, and best practices based on current evidence for collaboration and improved outcomes for children with disabilities.
• Participants will describe their role as a physical therapist team member within the educational and medical models of service delivery and analyze barriers to collaboration in order to best support children with disabilities across the lifespan and all of their natural environments.
• Participants will use the ICF model, case studies and a school based PT perspective to analyze the relationship between performance of educationally relevant skills and participation in education and connect these concepts to collaborative evaluation and goal planning in pediatric PT.
• Participants will apply knowledge of resources to support collaborative practices in pediatric PT.

Treatment of Pediatric Concussion

Presenters:
Brianne Clarke PT, DPT
Mary Herbert Williamson, OTR/L

Course Description: The goal of this lecture is to provide evidence-based examination and intervention tools for the pediatric population post-concussion to convey the need for an individualized multi-disciplinary approach in the treatment of concussion. The lecture will be delivered by a physical therapist and an occupational therapist, providing insight into the multidisciplinary focus of the lecture. The majority of this lecture encompasses practical application of the 2020 concussion clinical practice guidelines5 and how we as pediatric outpatient therapists implement these guidelines with our concussion patients. Our concussion program structures the evaluation and treatment of concussion patients according to the recommendations specified in the CPG, applying it to the pediatric population. Our therapists receive hands-on training in these methods and in what will be presented; including systems that need to be examined and in what order, symptom assessment and management, outcome measures and selection based on age and ability, and individualized intervention based on the findings of the evaluation including guided progression back to full participation. This lecture identifies the roles of occupational, physical, and speech therapies in concussion care and rehab, and how care is coordinated. CHoR’s multispecialty concussion clinic evaluates concussion patients and manages the various aspects of their care. As a multidisciplinary team of specialists is not available to all patients, this lecture identifies the need for multiple specialists and the components of recovery that need to be managed for safe return to full participation.

Course Learning Objective:

• Articulate appropriate evidence-based outcome measures for evaluation and treatment
• Develop an evidence-based toolbox for treating concussion and understanding which systems to focus on first
• Define areas of concussion management that need to be addressed by various disciplines during return to learning or playing

Together We Run: Building, studying, and growing a physical activity program

Presenter:
Tamara Buck, PT, DPT, PhD
Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy

Course Objective: This session will include the methods to design a program and quasi-experimental study to assess the health-related effects of the community-based, physical activity program, for children ages 8-13 years. Effects of the 9-week program were assessed using cardiovascular fitness metrics, and self-reported measures of physical activity, global and mental health and social well-being.

Participants demonstrated significant changes in cardiovascular fitness measured by resting heart rate, heart rate recovery, and the 6-Minute Walk Test. One hundred percent of participants who participated in a 5k finished successfully and wanted the program to continue. While participants did not demonstrate changes in self-reported measures, this warrants further investigation in the future.

• Understand the impact of physical activity and sedentary behaviors of children.
• Examine contemporary literature on benefits and barriers of physical activity for children.
• Describe ways to assess progress with community friendly measures.