Health-Related Fitness for Children and Adults with Cerebral Palsy

Position Statement of ACSM Sports Medicine Basics 2016: Health-related physical fitness for persons with Cerebral Palsy should be developed in the same model as fitness for all of us: start early, be easily available and continue throughout the life span

Health, Wellness, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Common Ground for Adults with Cerebral Palsy and Modern Physical Therapists

Health, wellness, and happiness are important long-term goals for adulthood, especially for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Physical therapists (PTs) can assist individuals with CP realize these goals; however it requires PTs to have a greater understanding of how to apply impairment, functional, or contextual interventions to meet these goals. A critical gap in knowledge exists about perceptions of happiness and health priorities of adults with CP. The purpose of this paper is to describe the beliefs, feelings, and perceptions of happiness and health of adults with CP as compared to adults without CP, specifically PTs

Health benefits of seated speed, resistance, and power training for an individual with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy: A case report

Children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy are at risk for low bone mass for chronological age, which compounds risk in adulthood for progressive deformity and chronic pain. Physical activity and exercise can be a key component to optimizing bone health. In this case report we present a young adult male with non-ambulatory, spastic quadriplegia CP whom began a seated speed, resistance, and power training exercise program at age 14.5 years. Exercise program continued into adulthood as part of an active lifestyle. The individual had a history of failure to thrive, bowel and bladder incontinence, reduced bone mineral density (BMD) for age, and spinal deformity at the time exercise was initiated. Participation in the exercise program began once a week for 1.5-2 hours/session, and progressed to 3-5 times per week after two years. This exercise program is now a component of his habitual lifestyle. Over the 6 years he was followed, lumbar spine and total hip BMD Z-scores did not worsen, which may be viewed as a positive outcome given his level of gross motor impairment. Additionally, the individual reported less back pain, improved bowel and bladder control, increased energy level, and never sustained an exercise related injury. Findings from this case report suggest a regular program of seated speed, resistance, power training may promote overall well-being, are safe, and should be considered as a mechanism for optimizing bone health

Policy brief: adaptive cycling equipment for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities as durable medical equipment

- Durable medical equipment (DME) policies require that the equipment be medically necessary; however, adaptive cycling equipment (bicycles and tricycles) are usually not deemed medically necessary.- Individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) are at high risk for secondary conditions, both physical and mental, that can be mitigated by increasing physical activity.- Significant financial costs are associated with the management of secondary conditions.- Adaptive cycling can provide improved physical health of individuals with NDD potentially reducing costs of comorbidities.- Expanding DME policies to include adaptive cycling equipment for qualifying individuals with NDD can increase access to equipment.- Regulations to ensure eligibility, proper fitting, prescription, and training can optimize health and wellbeing.- Programs for recycling or repurposing of equipment are warranted to optimize resources

The second physical therapy summit on global health: developing an action plan to promote health in daily practice and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases

Based on indicators that emerged from The First Physical Therapy Summit on Global Health (2007), the Second Summit (2011) identified themes to inform a global physical therapy action plan to integrate health promotion into practice across the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) regions. Working questions were: (1) how well is health promotion implemented within physical therapy practice; and (2) how might this be improved across five target audiences (i.e. physical therapist practitioners, educators, researchers, professional body representatives, and government liaisons/consultants). In structured facilitated sessions, Summit representatives (n=32) discussed: (1) within WCPT regions, what is working and the challenges; and (2) across WCPT regions, what are potential directions using World CaféTM methodology. Commonalities outweighed differences with respect to strategies to advance health-focused physical therapy as a clinical competency across regions and within target audiences. Participants agreed that health-focused practice is a professional priority, and a strategic action plan was needed to develop it as a clinical competency. The action plan and recommendations largely paralleled the principles and objectives of the World Health Organization's non-communicable diseases action plan. A third Summit planned for 2015 will provide a mechanism for follow-up to evaluate progress in integrating health-focused physical therapy within the profession.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Puerto Rican understandings of child disability: methods for the cultural validation of standardized measures of child health

Validating the cultural context of health is important for obtaining accurate and useful information from standardized measures of child health adapted for cross-cultural applications. This paper describes the application of ethnographic triangulation for cultural validation of a measure of childhood disability, the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) for use with children living in Puerto Rico. The key concepts include macro-level forces such as geography, demography, and economics, specific activities children performed and their key social interactions, beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and patterns of behavior surrounding independence in children and childhood disability, as well as the definition of childhood disability. Methods utilize principal components analysis to establish the validity of cultural concepts and multiple regression analysis to identify intracultural variation. Findings suggest culturally specific modifications to the PEDI, provide contextual information for informed interpretation of test scores, and point to the need to re-standardize normative values for use with Puerto Rican children. Without this type of information, Puerto Rican children may appear more disabled than expected for their level of impairment or not to be making improvements in functional status. The methods also allow for cultural boundaries to be quantitatively established, rather than presupposed.Puerto Rico Disability Standardized instruments Culture Validity PEDI

Including Arts in Rehabilitation Enhances Outcomes in the Psychomotor, Cognitive, and Affective Domains: A Scoping Review

Objectives: The purpose of this scoping review was to analyze the published literature regarding the use of art in the context of rehabilitation for consideration in physical therapy. Methods: The CINAHL, PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, Art Index, Music Index, Cochrane Reviews, and PubMed electronic databases were accessed. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established and utilized to determine study eligibility. Study details were extracted from each article by researchers using a systematic format. Summation of journal type, participants, dosing and type of intervention, setting and interventionist, outcome domains, and study results were included. Results: Out of 1452 studies, 76 were included for extraction. Of these studies, most had outcome measures aligned with the psychomotor and affective domains of learning (n = 66). Very few studies had outcome measures with psychomotor and cognitive domains (n = 2) or psychomotor, affective, and cognitive outcome measures (n = 8). Regarding the arts used, music, dance, or both were used in 77 instances. Fewer studies reported using creative arts therapy, singing, theater, writing, and rhythm (n = 17). Of the 76 studies analyzed, 74 reported a within-group treatment effect. Conclusions: The arts effectively enhance physical therapist practice; therefore, it is recommended that physical therapists continue to seek collaboration with art professionals and explore the use of arts in practice. Impact: Findings demonstrate that combining the arts with physical therapist practice amplifies not only psychomotor but affective and cognitive outcomes as well. The arts have applicability across broad populations (eg, chronic pain, neurologic dysfunction, respiratory conditions). This study supports that physical therapist education and practice should embrace the arts as a collaborative modality to promote enhanced psychomotor, affective, and cognitive outcomes

Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health Model to Gain Perspective of the Benefits of Yoga in Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, and Children to Inform Practice for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: Research pertaining to yoga and children with cerebral palsy (CP) is negligible. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) model and levels of evidence for yoga and adults with stroke and multiple sclerosis (MS), and children. A secondary purpose was to decide whether any inferences could be made for children with CP. Design: This study included a meta-analysis. Interventions: A systematic review was performed of yoga and said populations. Outcome measures were categorized according to the ICF model domains of body structures and function, activity, and quality of life. Effect sizes (ESs) were calculated by using Cohen's d. Since there were few commonalities among outcome measures and reporting of outcomes within and among diagnostic groups, direct comparisons of ESs were difficult. Hence, we chose to evaluate the impact of yoga as compared with the control group or other physical exercise by using a General Linear Mixed Model. Results: There were 5 yoga studies with stroke, 15 with MS, and 12 with children. Studies with children used outcomes related to body structure and function, whereas those with stroke and MS used outcomes across all three domains of the ICF. ESs varied from negligible to medium for stroke, from negligible to large for MS and children. Conclusions: The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that yoga is no better or worse than other exercise modalities as a treatment intervention for adults with stroke and MS, and children. Group yoga classes are typically social environments that can contribute to increased physical progress and feelings that contribute to quality of life, which may benefit individuals with CP. More research on yoga and particularly in children and adults with CP would yield valuable information for creating effective and safe yoga programs with a rich array of benefits

Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health Model to Gain Perspective of the Benefits of Yoga in Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, and Children to Inform Practice for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: Research pertaining to yoga and children with cerebral palsy (CP) is negligible. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) model and levels of evidence for yoga and adults with stroke and multiple sclerosis (MS), and children. A secondary purpose was to decide whether any inferences could be made for children with CP. Design: This study included a meta-analysis. Interventions: A systematic review was performed of yoga and said populations. Outcome measures were categorized according to the ICF model domains of body structures and function, activity, and quality of life. Effect sizes (ESs) were calculated by using Cohen\u27s d. Since there were few commonalities among outcome measures and reporting of outcomes within and among diagnostic groups, direct comparisons of ESs were difficult. Hence, we chose to evaluate the impact of yoga as compared with the control group or other physical exercise by using a General Linear Mixed Model. Results: There were 5 yoga studies with stroke, 15 with MS, and 12 with children. Studies with children used outcomes related to body structure and function, whereas those with stroke and MS used outcomes across all three domains of the ICF. ESs varied from negligible to medium for stroke, from negligible to large for MS and children. Conclusions: The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that yoga is no better or worse than other exercise modalities as a treatment intervention for adults with stroke and MS, and children. Group yoga classes are typically social environments that can contribute to increased physical progress and feelings that contribute to quality of life, which may benefit individuals with CP. More research on yoga and particularly in children and adults with CP would yield valuable information for creating effective and safe yoga programs with a rich array of benefits