Physical therapists play a very important and multifaceted role in health promotion of all individuals. Education may be one of the most important aspects of this role. Most patients are only allotted a set number of therapy sessions before insurance companies will no longer pay for the service. This limited time frame may not be long enough to fully rehabilitate or benefit the patient in a long term manner. Therefore, it is imperative that the therapists provide patients with the resources to be able to continue the therapeutic process on their own. Physical therapists could be described as experts on movement and its health benefits, as well as possible harm caused by different types of movement. This knowledge can be passed on to promote …show more content…
Physical therapists must advocate for the improvement of their patients’ health, well-being, and quality of life. Advocacy can help ensure that patients receive as much benefit from physical therapy services as possible, which, therefore, promotes the patients’ health. For example, one way a physical therapist may advocate for patients is by sending reports to doctors when a patient would benefit from having additional treatment sessions. These reports can get doctors to prescribe more sessions if necessary. Physical therapists also play a role in health promotion by working together with other professionals on interdisciplinary teams. By communicating with other professionals, physical therapists can help patients receive the appropriate services to fit the needs of the patient accordingly. Physical therapists can also promote health by communicating with families when it is appropriate. If the continuation of therapy must occur at home, families can be a helpful and motivating support system for the patient when they understand the treatment plan and ways that the patient can be assisted.Although physical therapists are trained specifically to work with physical activity and movement, it is also important to think about health and wellness from a holistic perspective. This is why it could be argued that physical therapists can promote health by facilitating emotional support for their patients. For some individuals, the therapeutic process can be frustrating and overwhelming. Patients may be dealing with a slow or long recovery from an injury or surgery. When progression is not fast or immediately obvious, it is easy for patients to get frustrated and to feel discouraged. However, the therapists can help ease some of these concerns through encouragement and a supportive attitude. This extra support can be very beneficial to emotional health, and, therefore, can be considered another
Working in an interdisciplinary team, gives the team an ability to address the patients’ needs from different perspectives and different strategies. The interdisciplinary team works together to provide the individual with the most beneficial possible outcome. Interdisciplinary teams can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social workers, and other health care providers (Mellor, Cottrell, & Moran, 2013). The challenge for being a recreational therapist among a health care field is that many health care providers do not see recreational therapy as a serious, legitimate, and beneficial program for their health service patients as well as for their other health care providers. This idea creates a challenge for not
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.
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.
Like every profession in the medical field even Physical Therapist need to be relaxed and determined. When a patient comes to a Physical Therapist for intervention they more than likely do not want to be there and think it is a waste of time. With this being said, the patient
People who have been in accidents or having disabling conditions turn to physical therapists, commonly called PT’s, for help. Physical therapists are professional health care providers who are licensed in each and every state they practice. Physical therapy has a long history of returning people to their maximum level of physical function. Physical therapists use a variety of techniques to restore a function, improve mobility, relieve pain and prevent physical disabilities in their patients. However, being a physical therapist also has many downfalls such as dealing with patient’s insurance, motivating patients, and dealing with criticism in the workplace.
“Your job as an aide is to make sure all the patients are attended to without compromise, maintaining the flow of the clinic, and that you represent not just yourself anymore, but the entire physical therapy staff”. I was told these words on my first day as a physical therapy aide. Since this was my first experience in a Physical therapy setting, it made me afraid of the therapist who spoke the words to me, and of the job requirements ahead of me. Overtime, these words set me on the path to learning the important values necessary to be a successful physical therapist. Values such as professional demeanor, accountability, and striving to give the best effort to help the patients were the main points the therapist emphasized in his words to me. All these values had one main goal, and that was so the patient can receive the best possible care. These values stuck
During workdays, physical therapists meet with their patients and discuss their goals. To achieve them, the physical therapists work with the patients and create plans that map out routines of exercise and stretches. Every time a patient returns to the office, the physical therapists examine and observe how they are progressing and determine how to help them even more (O*NET Online). They then begin to modify the old plans and find better ways for the patient to make a full recovery (O*NET Online). They also converse with the patient and their families to inform them of how to make the recovery go smoothly and quickly. The outcome of this treatment is that people who were injured or ill would recuperate and uphold a healthy life. Physical therapists use their knowledge of human biology to know how to challenge the patients with precaution and achieve a successful recovery (America’s Top 300 Jobs: A Complete Career Handbook). The physical therapists have to work with the patient to understand each other and their ideas. Also, physical therapists tend to talk with other physicians, occupational therapists, nurses, social workers, and physical therapists to find the best path to being healthy (Ameri...
Occupational therapy was based off of psychology; we evolved from treating mentally ill patients with isolation as an efficient treatment plan. We must never forget we are known to be “the art and science of helping people do the day-to-day activities that are important and meaningful to their health and well being through engagement in valued occupations” (Crepeau, Cohn, & Schell, 2008). To other professional disciplines this article explains the difference between each of us, yet can also express our relation to one another. The basic goal of all therapeutic disciplines is to better our clients life, through physical, speech or occupational therapy. Every discipline targets different goals, may it be body mechanics, reducing a stutter or buttoning a shirt, at the end of the day our clients well being may it be through science, art or both is all that matters. To the occupational therapy field this article means progress for what we do. Reading this article today in the year 2015 did not seem like old information to me, it is still relevant, I am proud that our field is not only evolving with contemporary time but it is also maintaining its
As an occupation in the medical field, physical therapists have a very long strenuous list of duties. That list includes working with patients with limited use of their bodies due to injury or disability and improving mobility while reducing pain. Physical therapists provide care to people of all ages who have functional problems such as sprains, strains, fractures, arthritis, amputations, stroke, cerebral palsy, other injuries relating to sports, other injuries relating to work, other neurological disorders, and various other conditions. Some ways that physical therapist go about reducing pain levels of their patients is by using exercises, stretching, hands on therapy, and special equipment that is designed to help increase their mobility, prevent further injury, and smooth out the...
Even though physical therapy is a highly visible career, most people do not know what a physical therapist,or pt for short, is or what they do. A PT does many things like helping “patients reduce pain,improve or restore mobility and even reducing the need for long-term prescriptions and their side effects”(“APTA”). They do this by setting up goals or care plans made of focused exercise for each individual. Exercises or games help with restoring range of movement, building strength and improving flexibility. In order to help their patients, a PTT must have important skills like; compassion, a drive to do the right thing, an ability to relate with their patient, effective performance of responsibilities, strong observational skills, have good communication skills and be able to empathize with their patients.
They help them improve their movement and if necessary, help with the pain. “They are an important part of rehabilitation and treatment of patients with chronic conditions or injuries.” They spend a lot of time on their feet, actively working with patients. The following are some of the things that physical therapist typically do: diagnose patients by watching them stand or walk, they set up a plan for their patients, use exercises to help relieve them from any pain, evaluate the patient's progress and they educate their families about the problem. The work of a physical therapist varies on the the type of injury they are working with. For example, a patient that lost mobility due to Parkinson’s disease needs different type of attention as to an athlete recovering from a sprained ankle. This field has five areas: Orthopedic Physical Therapists which mainly focus o the function of the musculoskeletal system as well as sport injuries. Geriatric Physical Therapist are therapist that focus on older adults and work with conditions such as arthritis, cancer, joint replacement, balance disorders, etc. Neurological Physical Therapist focus on neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury, spinal cord injury and strokes. Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapist help people that struggle with cardiovascular and pulmonary conditions like heart attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary
Physical therapy is always full of surprises, from new advancements in technology to new and improved therapeutic techniques. Although there are fun games and new technology that physical therapists can do with patients, the main struggle for physical therapists is to motivate their patients to complete their therapy exercises both in the clinic and in the outside world. This problem is very frustrating because the doctors who work at the clinic constantly push patients to complete their therapy so that they can heal; however, when patients are stubborn and reluctant to their treatment, yet constantly complain of pain, doctors must spend more time convincing them to do the therapy rather than completing the therapy itself.
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.
The internship that I acquired during the summer of 2010 at the Greenwood Sports and Industrial Rehabilitation Center (GSIRC), allowed me to gain an immeasurable amount of experience during my tenure at this facility. Within this period, the exposure to new concepts within the physical therapy industry allowed me to observe and work hands on with patients of all ages and disabilities that exposed me to various treatment plans and programs to restore client’s mobility. The essential Physical Education and Exercise Science (PEES) courses taken at Lander University were beneficial to my academic knowledgebase, which prepared me and developed me for the opportunity within the physical therapy discipline. Working as an intern taught me the responsibility of time management and working within a lean schedule that allow me to further develop my skill set. This reflection paper will illustrate my classroom experience, internship experience, and learning experience.
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.