Discovering Physical Therapy

 Presented to you by the Class of 2016 and originally compiled by Chandni Patel

Here’s a blast from the bulletins of past. Some time ago the Program in Physical Therapy had a bulletin board that featured a project that the Class of 2016 had in DPT 110. The objective of the project was to discover physical therapy in different places on the Frost Campus (also known as North Campus) of Saint Louis University. Various physical therapy settings were to be discovered: geriatrics, pediatrics, home health, rehab/skilled nursing facility, sports/orthopedic and acute care. Read on to see what they discovered!

                       

Ball

Sports/orthopedic

By using the physio ball, the athlete can strengthen their muscles. With a combination of cross training, using this ball will get the patient back to their regular activities and reduce further injury.

Pediatric

The volleyball can be used to improve a child's balance, stability, and coordination.This is especially helpful when standing on one foot. Balls can be used in pediatric therapy to play catch with the kids in order to improve their hand-eye coordination. Also, you could use the ball to pass it back and forth and stand on one foot to work on balance.

Geriatric

For geriatric therapy many patients need to work on their balance. The ball could be used in many great exercises to improve this area for patients.  Exercise balls and other balance equipment can be found in the Simon Rec.

Grass         

Using the grass from outside is a great tool that can be used in the field of outpatient care. The grass is used as a tool for stabilization and strengthening of the muscles in the legs, ankles, and feet. Also helps with coordination as well.

Bean Bag Toss

               

Pediatrics     

In pediatrics, a game, such as Bean Bag Toss, can be used to develop range of motion as well as strength. It is also a fun interactive game.

Stairs 

Geriatrics

Stairs with a railing can be used to build up the patient’s endurance. Stairs are an obstacle that they will face at home, so it is important that the patient can walk up a flight of stairs to ensure their survival at home.

Home health

In home health, stairs can be used to strengthen the patient’s legs and improve balance to prevent falls.  Patients will go up and down a few stairs at a time with the goal of increasing the number of stairs to improve endurance and help them get in and out their home.

Sports/Ortho

         Doing exercises such as high knees on stairs help to strengthen and stretch leg muscles.

Pediatrics

These stairs could be used in the area of pediatric physical therapy. The child could strengthen their leg muscles by doing repetitions of walking up and down the stairs.  

 

Hammock      

Sports/Ortho

The more people on the hammock, the more weight there is for a patient to push, pull, and hold the hammock in place.  The fluidity of the hammock motion provides constant activity.

Soda Cans

Home health             

One item that is found in most homes is cans of pop/soda. These cans can be used as weights in the home setting.

Water bottle           

Rehab/skilled nursing

By using a water bottle as a weight, we can either make it lighter or heavier based on his progress. This picture relates to skilled nursing facility as well. This therapy is for adults who have had a disease, such as Pneumonia, which caused them to lose an extreme amount of muscle mass.