A new CEU article is available in DIRECTIONS, the official publication of NRRTS.
Until fairly recently, there has not been a large population of individuals aging with disabilities. The first large population occurred in the 1980’s, with people who were polio survivors. The problems encountered by these people caught many of them off guard, not realizing the toll that functioning without full muscle capacity could have over time. At about the same time, medical advances facilitated people surviving spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries. People with such congenital and birth-related disabilities as cerebral palsy and spina bifida survive to normal life spans.
In the last 25 years or so, there has been a great deal of research into the effects of aging with disabilities. That information has been slow to make its way to the clinical environment. Also, many of the clients that are seen with aging problems by clinicians went through rehabilitation at a time when philosophies differed markedly from today. The combination of all of these issues necessitate an understanding of all the factors involved, both the best clinical approaches as well as an awareness of research findings that can be incorporated into their own clinical practices.
This article provides a review of the research relevant to clinical practice. A suggested approach for evaluating individuals who have been living with a disability will be reviewed.
Robert Harry, ATP/SMS, CRTS uses NRRTS for ongoing education. He regulary reads DIRECTIONS, especially the clinical articles available for CEUs. The articles provide him with valuable information to help him in his profession as a supplier and business owner. This is what Bob has to say about the article, “Aging with a Disability: Research to Clinic”, written by Susan Johnson Taylor, OTR/L, Certified, International Society of Wheelchair Professionals.
“I just finished reading (better said – studying) the CEU article in the new issue in Directions
Magazine titled “Aging with a disability”.
This is a must read for all of us in the CRT business,no matter what part you play in improving the patient’s access to a better quality of life. If you underline the important information, your 7 pages will be filled with crooked lines highlighting the information you need to retain.
Thirty minutes well spent. “You limit your patient if you limit your knowledge”. Each of us needed this article.