Pediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association
-
Physical therapists (PT) must be competent to treat patients across the lifespan, from pediatrics through geriatrics. Increasing the amount of experiential learning (EL) in pediatrics presents an opportunity for students to improve their self-efficacy in communication and patient handling. The purpose was to investigate changes in PT students' perceived self-efficacy in communication and patient handling following a structured and focused 8-week EL opportunity with a pediatric population. ⋯ Our findings reinforce the benefits of incorporating pediatric EL opportunities into the DPT curriculum as an effective learning strategy in pediatric education.
-
The purpose of this report was to describe a pediatric service-learning program in entry-level physical therapy (PT) education in Taiwan. ⋯ The experiences provided by this pediatric PT service-learning program appear to have the potential to foster the development of professional attributes in entry-level PT students.
-
Pain relief after exercise, exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH), is established across the lifespan. Conditioned pain modulation (CPM: pain inhibits pain) may be a mechanism for EIH. ⋯ A potential relationship exists between CPM and EIH in adolescents. Pediatric physical therapists should consider the CPM response when prescribing exercise as a pain management tool.
-
The Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association has developed a number of resources to support and improve the consistency of professional pediatric physical therapy education, including a set of core competencies that all graduates must attain. The purpose of this article is to advocate for the inclusion of experiential learning activities with children, including children with participation restrictions, as a necessary component to achieve the core competencies. ⋯ Recommendations for future research are provided and 4 key recommendations are provided.