Advanced Pediatric Locomotor Training (In-Person)

Prerequisites:

• Introduction to Locomotor Training
• Adult/Pediatric Locomotor Training: Skills and Coordination
• Pediatric Neuromuscular Recovery Course
• Must have at least 6 months of Locomotor Training Experience

The Advanced Locomotor Training (LT) Course is specifically for therapists, rehabilitation technicians, and trainers who have attended the Introductory Course, Locomotor Training: Principles and Practice, and who treat individuals affected by neurological injury/disease.

The advanced course builds on the principles, hands-on skills, techniques, and clinical decision-making of the introductory course, in combination with the trainers’ clinical experience providing LT. Pre-conference preparation provides an opportunity to review video lectures on the scientific basis of locomotor training, as well as guided online reading of recent scientific articles providing the basis for clinical application and evidence to guide decision-making and advance outcomes.

A brief review of manual techniques with hands-on training is followed by discussion and video/hands-on experience with patients presenting challenging examples for progression and clinical decision-making. Participants are asked to bring clinical examples for discussion. The Neuromuscular Recovery Scale* is emphasized as a tool to identify goals and facilitate progression.

Engagement and empowerment of each patient are promoted through the training sessions in the treadmill, over ground, and community integration components. Leadership and synergy of the entire team with the patient to achieve his/her goals is demonstrated as a means to enhance session effectiveness. Time management to optimize session impact is discussed and illustrated. Instructors also respond to the specific needs identified by participating staff from clinical sites.

As with the introductory course, participation by teams of therapists and trainers from sites is highly encouraged, though individuals will certainly benefit to advance positive outcomes.

Register Interest in the Introduction to Locomotor Training In-Person Course.

Approach

Participants will learn the advanced scientific knowledge and decision-making, improve and refine their hands-on skills, and administrative and management strategies for providing locomotor training. This course involves attendance for 2.5 days at a clinical site. This course combines didactic teaching and practical skills development with hands-on treatment of individuals with neurologic dysfunction. The course text is Locomotor Training: Principles and Practice (2011) must be purchased online.

Target Audience: Intermediate-level course open to program directors, licensed physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, and rehab technicians.

Appropriate dress: Participants should wear comfortable attire consistent with clinic wear or staff wear for a wellness/fitness center; tennis shoes are appropriate.

Objectives

1. Demonstrate a skilled knowledge of the basic science related to activity-based therapy with application to providing locomotor training and other activity-based therapies.
2. Apply evidence from recently published literature on activity-based therapies: locomotor training and outcomes, to clinical practice and decision-making for rehabilitation and advancement of recovery in adults with neurologic disorders.
3. Identify and incorporate the principles of locomotor training during evaluation and progression of adults with neurological dysfunction and a variety of presentations, severity, and complexity while applying:
   • Advanced level hands-on skills
   • Adapting to patient needs to promote activation of the neuromuscular system
   • Advanced clinical decision-making for skill progression in all environments: treadmill, assessment, and community integration
4. Be able to conduct, score, and apply the Neuromuscular Recovery Scale as an assessment and progression tool associated with activity-based therapies for clinical and research purposes.
5. Demonstrate effective and efficient leadership of a locomotor training session engaging the patient as to prioritized goals, as well as engagement of the entire training team in providing an optimal training session.
6. Select and use appropriate outcome measures for documentation of treatment sessions, progression, and discharge planning.

Readings in preparation for the onsite, hands-on component are required with supplementary articles listed in each learning module and can be downloaded from the Moodle Learning Management System upon registration and enrollment in the course.

Register Interest in the Advanced Pediatric Locomotor Training: Decision Making and Progression In-Person Course