COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Get ready to get stuffed, saturated and wrinkled! This “how-to” seminar will put your body in the pool for 2 unbelievably extensive days of skill acquisition (16 hours of class; 8 hours of pool lab). Think of this as the Appetizer Sampler of Aquatic Therapy seminars. You will be exposed to most of the popular aquatic techniques currently being used in clinics across the globe -- and learn 2 or 3 new ones. Why sit through all-day lectures on theory? Instead, get in the water and learn hands-on handling techniques that will leave you with new, concrete skills and the confidence to apply them to your musculoskeletal and neurological patients. And you’ll have a blast doing it.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this seminar, the participant will be able to:
1. Design a 3-step plan to improve patient satisfaction when providing aquatic therapy services.
2. Verbally compare precautions of aquatic therapy for 2-3 common orthopedic or neurological conditions.
3. Using the PEDro scale, appraise the merit of a published study which supports the need to address patient satisfaction in order to improve outcomes.
4. Make an evidence-supported argument about the value of 2-3 exercise regimes based on the studies presented in class.
5. Demonstrate the ability to manipulate 2-3 hydrodynamic properties (e.g. alter effect of buoyancy/viscosity/pressure on patient) during pool lab on command
6. Demonstrate the ability to perform at least 1 aquatic skill from each of the following techniques learned in class:
progressive resistive exercise,
proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation,
active stretching,
trunk stabilization,
functional skills training,
Salzman Blanket Drills,
Aquatic Adaptations of the Berg,
passive stretching and manual therapy
and exercises/flows loosely based on Watsu, T'ai Chi, Yoga, Pilates, adapted aquatics.
7. Execute a 15 minute mock treatment session in the pool, using role play, including making corrections to a partner's execution of these techniques.
8. In a pool lab session, teach at least 1 method to do each of the following:
increase ROM, improve strength, decrease hypertonicity, decrease pain, improve trunk stability, improve balance and proprioception, and improve functional skills.
Target Audience:
This is a 700 series class (teaches Basic-Intermediate skills) and is designed primarily for therapists who have 1 year of experience working in water. All students are asked to complete a 4 hour digital training provided to them prior to class, provided free of charge.
This course is within the scope of practice of the PT, PTA, OT, and COTA working in aquatic therapy (CPT code 97113). This course does not focus on evaluation or examination of the patient and thus, the content is within the scope of practice for Assistants working under the supervision of PTs or OTs. The clinical decision making that occurs during the course is done as a facilitated project which pairs therapists and assistants working as teams. While the primary audience for the course is stated above, other rehabilitation providers, such as the recreational therapist and athletic trainer, who count the therapeutic procedure aquatic therapy within their scope of practice will find it beneficial.