More and more, the field of physical therapy strives to embrace interprofessional collaboration. PTs know the expertise of those in other fields is often applicable to their profession.
The four speakers who presented during "New Frontiers in Rehabilitation Research" long ago discovered the benefits of working with professionals in various fields.
Andrea L. Behrman, PT, PhD, of the University of Florida and the Veterans Affairs Brain Rehabilitation Research Center in Gainesville, FL, is a co-principal investigator of the LEAPS study along with other PTs, doctors, biostatisticians and other professionals. Possible through a five-year grant, the study is investigating the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions specifically designed to improve walking in the first year after stroke. The efforts include looking at whether there is a difference in the proportion of subjects who successfully recover walking ability using a locomotor training program as opposed to a group with a therapist supervised, home-based, exercise program. The results will lend insight into determining the best timing to begin physical therapy and the effectiveness of particular therapy methods to reduce walking disabilities after a stroke.
Behrman is also involved in three other studies involving multiple professions that involve robotic assisted vs. manual assisted locomotor training, pediatric walking and neurorecovery.
Presenter Michael E Selzer, MD, PhD, FRCP, of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C., works with PTs in his neurorehab research. Tom Buchanan, a mechanical engineer and the founder of the Center for Biomechanical Research at the University of Delaware, currently possesses six National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, all of which involve PTs.
"I have not written a grant proposal in the past 10 years that didn't include physical therapists as substantial collaborators," Buchanan said.
One, the BRP grant, which is studying rehab robotics, involves Stuart A Binder-Macleod, PT, PhD, also of the University of Delaware and one of the four presenters. Another grant, the COBRE, draws help from two PTs in its study of arthritis injury and prevention.
"It's been a really fun way to get people together who wouldn't normally talk to each other," Buchanan added.
For more information on rehab research news, visit www.nih.gov/news/