The article I choose to review is titled: “Moving forward in occupational health physical therapy: the journey toward specialization in the United States.” It was written by Deirdre Daley and Margot Miller and published in the October 2013 Journal of Physical Therapy Reviews. The purpose of the article was to highlight the role and impact physical therapists have in occupational health. The article discussed not only the role physical therapist play but also specialization of Physical Therapist in occupational health. The article describes the process of specialization such as competencies for professional development and efforts to achieve physical therapy specialization in this area of practice. The methodology for this article was a literary …show more content…
review. The author of the article used the search terms Occupational health, Physical therapy, Practice analysis, Specialization, in his research on the topic. Ultimately the findings as stated by the author concluded that, “Physical therapist specialization in occupational health may benefit workers and employers through injury reduction and improved or sustained abilities of the workforce following injury. Specialization will help to promote consistency within the field of physical therapy for external stakeholder recognition of skills, while also promoting knowledge transfer and diffusion of best practice. The specialization petition has not been approved; however the process is ongoing” (Deirdre Daley, 2013). According to Daley’s research, “The Bureau of Labor and Statistics data showed that there were 3.8 million work-related illness and injury cases in 2011.
Approximately one-third of cases average 8-23 days of time away from work and one-third are results of musculoskeletal disorders” (Deirdre Daley, 2013). As of the publication of this article the number, duration and cost of work-related musculoskeletal problems illustrated the need for Physical Therapist in an occupational/industrial healthcare setting. The skill set of Physical Therapist is ideal for improving efforts related to implementation and facilitation of wellness and prevention programs, restoring functional performance and incorporating return to work plans. Physical Therapist also have the skill set to evaluate workers, improve stay at work and return to work outcomes as well as work toward educating workers on importance of maintaining health, especially in the area of chronic illness such as diabetes and cardiovascular …show more content…
disease. The Occupational Health Special Interest Group (OHSIG) of the Orthopedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), formally established in 2003 has worked to establish the role of physical therapy in the area of Occupational Health in the United States. One of the initial goals of the OHSIG was to identify the scope of practice for physical therapist in occupational health as well as the foundation for formal training experiences. A 2005 analysis revealed approximately 142 critical tasks performed by physical therapists working in occupational health. The 142 critical task were grouped into three areas – examination and evaluation, intervention, and practice management. It is Daley’s opinion that, “While physicians and nurses manage care based on pathology or prognosis of a specific injury or conditions covering a broad range of occupational illness and injury types including burns, chemical exposures, lacerations, and musculoskeletal conditions, musculoskeletal rehabilitation and transitional program design targeting return to work are more of a focus of physical therapy practice” (Deirdre Daley, 2013). While musculoskeletal rehabilitation may be more of Physical Therapy practice, analysis of physical therapy educational programs, found few entry-level occupational health competencies or related course work, thus lacking entry level competency. Because there is no formal standards or structure for the area content of occupational health in most Physical Therapy education programs, most learn and become proficient through continuing education. As of yet, the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS) had yet approved the petition to establish physical therapy occupational health specialization with the APTA. Currently there are eight specialties with the APTA with the last one (women’s health) being approved in 2006. If the OHSIG petition was approved, it would fall under the orthopedic section as a subsection. Currently the Orthopedic Section already has a subsection titled Sports Therapy. The approval of the OHSIG approval would also set precedent, as there is currently no section within the APTA which has two specializations within one single section. Although the American Physical Therapy Association does not currently have an Occupational Health Specialty, the Australian Physiotherapy Association in recent years has developed a structured occupational health physiotherapy training program. While their program is more organized and is recognized by their association, the lack of structured occupational health educational classes is current a barrier which they are looking for solutions for. With help from the World Confederation of Physical Therapy (WCPT), a process to develop a formal occupational health group amongst the WCPT is in the works. Occupational Physical Therapy as a specialty is still yet to be developed, and while the idea of specialization of such would be nice, does it fulfill a need? Questions still left unanswered is, Is it necessary or do entry level physical therapist simply need more education prior to graduating from a physical therapy program. An article titled Physiotherapist in Occupational Health-the Australian Experience, although had similarities with Daley’s statements, the contrast between the American Physical Therapy Association looking at whether or not occupational physical therapy should be an independent section or at least a subsection of the orthopedic sections and the Australian Physiotherapy Association having already recognized the importance of such specialties shows how far the gap is in standardizing occupational physical therapy.
The APA has recognized the field of occupational health since World War II, where as in America it appears to be a novel concept. The development over the next few years in the field of occupational physical therapy as a section, subsection and/or specialty in American as well as in the World Confederation of Physical Therapy will be interesting to follow. If nothing else comes from this, hopefully at least a standardization of education
will. References Deirdre Daley, M. M. (2013). Moving forward in occupational health physical therapy: the journey toward specialization in the United States. Physical Therapy Reviews, 316-326. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=26dc7e9a-841e-4881-bb76-12a9e94bcab5%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4209 McPhee, R. B. (2013). Physiotherapists in occupational health — the Australian experience. Physical Therapy Reviews, 327-335. McPhee, R. B. (2014). Response to commentary on: ‘Physiotherapists in Occupational Health – the Australian experience’. Physical therapy Review, 289.
The profession of a physical therapist assistant is a demanding and rewarding career. Physical therapist assistants work under the supervision of a licensed physical therapist. Physical therapist assistants have the pleasure of helping patients regain movement and manage pain caused by injuries, illnesses or surgeries. There are a vast array of subjects to study on the road to become a physical therapist assistant. Palliative care, pediatric care and geriatric care, are endearing specialty areas for the physical therapist assistant.
Imagine going up for the perfect lay-up, you make the shot but when you land you twist awkwardly and land on your knee. Laying on the ground, you feel the pain surging through your knee, the first line of defense is an athletic trainer, however if this accident happened when you fell on a wet kitchen floor you could expect much the same care from a physical therapist Athletic Trainers are the first to respond to sport related in game injuries, and provide care after injuries. In contrast physical therapist are not only there to fix accidental injuries, and treat chronic bone and joint they help with plans of care and rehabilitation for athletes and non-athletes after injuries. Physical Therapy play a important role in todays healthcare. Physical Therapy are experts of improving and storing motion , they contribute to their patients ‘ quality of life by keeping them healthy , fit , active and in medications . The first school of Modern Physical Therapy opened in Boston, MA , So Physical Therapy have been around for a long time. The Physical Therapy Association Organized by Mary McMillan. It later became the American Physical Therapy Association.World War ll brings changes to Physical Therapy was done at hospitals as patients recovered from injuries , surgeries or other ailments.
A year and three months ago, I was at football practice. I was on the defensive line. I tripped up the running back, but the running back landed on my left ankle. The result was a fracture on my left tibia. I played on my injury for two weeks. At that moment, I was not able to play football for the rest of the year. During this summer, I injured my back. I began to accumulate information about how to treat my injuries. While I was researching, the words physical therapy popped up. I clicked on them, and the article discussed what a physical therapist does. When I was halfway down the article, it stated that a physical therapist helps people with injuries like mine. After researching, I decided to be a physical therapist.
This article discusses the basic understanding of what occupational therapy is and what it the Occupation is defined as “activites of everyday life, names, organized and given meaning by individuals and a culture” (Association, 2006). This article also discusses the historical aspects of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy was founded by many different professionals with different backgrounds, that came together to share the same idea about how occupational therapy should be and the importance of activites for a person. This article also talks about different types of services that occupational therapy offers. Occupational therapists and assistances can work in many different settings.
During the interview, the Physical Therapist I conferred with was very thorough and straightforward in his responses to the questions that were given. I decided to interview another one of my mother’s fellow co-workers, Mr. Stephen Chan, considering his new experiences in the Physical Therapy field. I met with Mr. Stephen Chan at the Kaiser Permanente Outpatient Orthopedic Clinic that is located in Union City. The essential subject matters that we discussed consisted of his Major and Minor in college, the Residency Program that he takes part in, variations of attitudes, and advantages in the workforce.
Reilly M (1962) Occupational therapy can be one of the great ideas of the twentieth century. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 16, pp. 300-308
A Physical Therapist Assistant is a job occupation that involves assisting a Physical Therapist who helps with the rehabilitation of individuals who have past injuries or are working towards strengthening what they are weak with. They help people get back to their normal self and ready to operate in society normally. The Physical Therapist Assistant mostly helps with the workouts and stretches that patients have to do. They help with impairments, disabilities, and their mobility(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). A Physical Therapist Assistant can work in hospitals, schools, and any average therapy location. There is a lot of information about being a Physical Therapist Assistant including their day to day routine,salary, schooling, and employment rates (APTA).
...e-based knowledge to inform the therapy practice. It also assists with furthering the therapist’s knowledge of humans as occupational beings as well as the relationship between occupation and health.(Yexer ,1993) introduced occupational science as a fundamental science supporting occupational therapy, with an aim to refocus the provision of therapy back to occupation. Hence, occupational science provides the therapists with support, justifies the meaning and uniqueness of the profession and distinguishes occupational therapy from other professions. In addition (Wilcock, 2001), also emphasises that occupational science might be another way to avoid the possible failure of the occupational therapy as a practice. With a strong research background, occupational therapists could make a contribution to medical science, which may challenge it from a different standpoint.
Entering my first year of college I didn’t have any idea of what I wanted to do. I still didn’t choose a major let alone a career. I was stuck in between wanting to make enough money that my family would be taken care of financially and choosing a career that I wouldn’t mind going in to work every day. The one thing that I was certain of was that I wanted to be able to help people in whatever I chose to do. After careful consideration and exploring the options available to me, I have come to the conclusion that I want to have a career in physical therapy. Physical therapy is the treatment of disease, injury or deformity through physical methods rather than through drugs or surgery.
Occupational therapy made its first appearance in a modern-day setting during the 18th century; however, occupational therapy dates back to 100 BC. The United States medical system adopted occupational therapy in the 19th century. In 1910, occupational therapy became a realized profession. Then, the main focus was working with individuals to get them to a fully functional state. Around 1930, standards of practice were developed for occupational therapists (OT’s). The career continues to evolve and change as new illnesses and disabilities arise. Even with all the changes, the main focus remains intact: helping people.
Have you ever just felt that your job is draining the life out? Do you just dread going to work in the morning? Many people experience burnout, which is mental or physical energy depletion after a period of chronic, unrelieved job-related stress (Elsevier, 2009). Physical therapists are just one of the victims out of numerous that experience burnouts. Given that health coverage has changed physical therapists (PT) are more likely to face burnout because of job stress resulting from overwork and not caring for their own well-being.
The profession I will be going over is going to be Physical therapy. I will give you an overview of the job and that will consist of what they do, how much they get paid, and different types of conditions and symptoms.
A physical therapist is a person who is a licensed educated professional in the health field whose main job is to lower pain level and helps redeem mobility hoping to reduce chances of surgery and being on long-term medication With becoming a physical therapist, a person can have a comfortable lifestyle. The salary usually is about $80,000 a year depending on how much experience, location of job, position, and education (American Physical Therapy Association). Usually, lower paid physical therapist get about $55,00 yearly and top paid make more than $112,00 a year. The job out look for physical therapist looks promising. Physical therapists are expected to grow 36% between in 2012 to 2012, which is faster then the average occupations. The numbers of physical therapist in 2012 were 204,200 and there are excepted to jump to 277,700 in 2022. With my generation becoming more active and more competitive in sports, physical therapy services are going to be needed more often. New research is growing for chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity which physical therapist will have to help with mobility issues from these diseases. New medical technology and research is being discovered to help with trauma victims and birth defeats. This allows a increase in rehabilitation care where physical therapists will be highly needed (A Bureau Of Labor Statistics).
Physical therapy is a fun and exciting healthcare profession that helps people. It is all about helping other people who have problems with their body, muscles, joints and other parts of their body. Patients includes accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy. Physical therapy will perform an evaluation of your problem or difficulty. They evaluate your problem by performing tests and measures to assess the problem. These tests includes muscle strength, joint motion, sensory and neurological, coordination, balance, observation, palpation, flexibility, postural screening, movement analysis, and special tests are designed for a particular problem. Next, they develop a treatment plan and goals and then manage the appropriate treatment to aid in recovery of a problem or dysfunction. Physical therapists are able to treat their patients by using many different treatments depending on the type of injury. Some of the treatments are electrical stimulation, hot and cold packs, infrared and ultrasound to reduce swelling or relieve pain. These treatments are used to help decrease pain and increase movement and function. Therapeutic exercises instructions will help restore strength, movement, balance, or skill as a guide towards full functional recovery. Physical therapy provides "hands on techniques" like massage or joint mobilizations skills to restore joint motion or increase soft tissue flexibility. They will focus on basic skills such as getting out of bed, walking safely with crutches or a walker, moving specific joints and muscles of the body. Physical therapists treatment includes patient education to teach them how to deal with a current problem and how to prevent the problem in the future. Such documentation is used to track the patient's progress, and identify areas requiring more or less attention. They encourage patients to use their own muscles. Their main goal is to improve how an individual functions at work and home.
Physical therapists are health care professionals that provide therapeutic services to their patients who have temporary or chronic physical conditions that were caused from injury or disease. Physical therapist also provided therapeutic services to patients after they have gone through surgery to help them gain back mobility and manage their pain. They can also work in preventive care by promoting healthy life styles and instructing individual patients or groups on preventing injury by using exercises that stretch and strengthen muscles. To help their patients try to recover they use massage techniques, wellness plans, and different types of equipment. When a physical therapist sees a patient for the very first time they must do an examination, evaluation, diagnosis, and then put together a physical intervention to start the rehabilitation process. They also work as a team with other health care professionals to help with their patients needs. Physical therapist can really make a difference in their patient’s lives by not only providing therapeutic services but also encouraging and motivating them so they can get better. The main goals of physical therapist are to help their patients retain or gain back lost physical mobility, eliminate or reduce pain, increase productivity and help promote a healthy life style so patients can have a better quality of life and become more independent.