Paediatric movement therapy web-manual

[PamVersfeld]

Dear Colleagues

In collaboration with local universities we are looking at establishing a trust to developed a web-based, open access movement therapy manual, The aim of the project is to provide occupational and physical therapists with access to resources about the assessment and treatment of children with developmental disabilities, especially those working in countries where access to continuing professional development is not readily available and information in the standard textbooks does not cover the particular circumstances of therapists working in developing countries.

We are looking for input from paediatric therapists from around the world to guide us in what content people would like to see in a textbook. What are your CPD needs? What areas of practice would you like improve? What practical skills would you like to acquire? What sort of patients do you see?

Please take some time to post you ideas about what you would like to see in a web-based manual.


Pam Versfeld
Project Co-ordinator
Cape Town, South Africa
Additional Comment I forgot:
More about the web-manual project

The Paediatric Movement Therapy Web-manual Project aims to create an open-access, web-based, collaboratively-written, interactive manual for occupational and physical therapists working with children with disabilities.

Effective clinical decision making in paediatric occupational and physiotherapy is not possible without an extensive knowledge of the differences in cognitive, emotional, language and motor skills at different ages, as well as the short term and long term impact of the social and physical environment, injury and disease on the child’s developing systems.

Students and newly qualified physical and occupational therapists also have difficulties in linking the information they gather about a child’s family circumstances, age, impairments and functional limitations to decisions about assessment and intervention strategies.

The Web-manual Project aims to provide free, easily accessible and interlinked information (and links to information) that will improve the therapists’ skills in working with children and their families to enhance function and participation in a way that is appropriate to the child, the family and the social context.

Pam Versfeld
Project coordinator



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[estherderu]

Wow, Pam!

what a great idea.....

I´ll sleep over it....and get back to you soon.

Esther

[PamVersfeld]

Hi Esther

Thank you for your response. I look forward to hearing from you.
I know that in Holland physios do an extensive post grad course before they work in paeds. But in many countries, including South Africa and the UK undergraduate training in paeds is quite limited, and post graduate training tends to be limited to 8 week Bobath courses.

I really hope that readers of this forum take the time to tell us what they would like to see in a free, on the web manual. We really need this feedback in order to get funding for the project.

You can also read more about the project at http://skillsforaction.com/?q=node/431

Best wishes

Pam

[nwobhm]

wow great project this could surely help a lot as most of resource for pediatric therapist are not taught to entry level physiotherapists

[illuminatidinesh]

I would like to share my experiences here.... I can also provide links. Am I of to any use to U?

[daniel_sadana80]

Wow... that's a great project... i would to join...

[egy physio]

great project, thanks for all efforts to upgrade physio knowledge

[PamVersfeld]

The Web-manual has been updated - Movement therapy for children web-manual | skillsforaction.com

See in particular Hypermobile infants - which has links to 2 tutorials for therapists.

Looking forward to your comments on these tutorials.

Best wishes

Pam

[jimmy234]

Thanks and I found it very informative and skill enhaCING WEB PAGE. THANKS ONCE AGAIN.

[PamVersfeld]

The Skills for Action Web-Manual has been updated. Please take a look at the new content on the Web Manual pages at Movement therapy for children web-manual | skillsforaction.com



You will find new tutorials for therapists and a new section outlining a developmental systems based model of physiotherapy intervention for infants and toddlers. The Training infant Skills for Action (TISA) model is task based with the added dimension of a set of principles for adapting tasks and the environment to allow the child to explore possibilities for action, solve the movement problem and succeed every time she engages with the activity.

To do this one needs a very good knowledge of how infants learn new motor skills - the tutorials provide an opportunity for acquiring this knowledge.

Best wishes for a peaceful and successful 2011.

Pam

[estherderu]

dear Pam,

Thank you for giving us such well informed and practical information.
The Web Manual is one of the best manuals I have seen.

Esther

[REHABILITATION]

hello there,
it looks very nice but i would like to ask
is it for free ?

[estherderu]

Dear Rehabilitation

Most of it is free and Pam does not ask much money to invest in looking into all of it.
The manual is expanding and the information is very up-to-date.
Definitely worth your while to pay a little money for.

kind regards

Esther

[PamVersfeld]

Esther is correct - some of the content is free and some requires a subscription.

You do need to register as a user on the site to access the free content. Registration is also free.

Producing high quality information is time consuming - and like everyone else I need to earn a living. So the material that has more depth and taken more time to produce is on the subscription pages.

I do hope you will take the time to look at the material that is free. And I hope that it challenges you to think about your practice and perhaps decide that it is worth your while to make a small financial investment and a large time investment to update your knowledge and skills.

Knowledge is power - the more you know and understand about development the more effective your practice becomes. Even after 40 years in practice i am learning and adapting my practice. The reward is the enormous pleasure that comes from helping to change the lives of our young patients.

Every therapy session should be fun for the child, the parents and the therapist. And after every therapy session the child and family should go away feeling greatly enriched and able to do more than when they came into the therapy room.

There are ways to engage even the most disabled children and to get them actively exploring their environment. If the child cries and is not actively working to achieve new goals - then not much is being achieved.

The video footage that you can access as a subscriber provides you with examples of how you can work with a child in this positive way. It also give insights into how children work really hard to gain new skills - and what it is we need to work towards to make a difference in the lives of our patients and their families.

And in turn, you have the right to challenge me. What is it that you would like to know more about? Does what I say make sense. Have i provided evidence for my ideas?

Pam