Exercise prescription is a mainstay of physiotherapy treatment.

Along with other forms of movement, exercise is a large component of guideline-based care for many musculoskeletal conditions because of its positive effects on key patient-reported outcomes (eg, pain and disability) as well as other comorbidities with which people experiencing pain often present.

PHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH FOUNDATION Melissa Trudinger talks to Seeding Grant recipient Dr Emre Ilhan about his study looking at whether common screening tools for neuropathic pain can be validated for use in children.

$11,718 PRF Seeding Grant

When Alisa McLachlan FACP, a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2019), was studying physiotherapy as an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne, she had a strong drive towards high achievement right from the start.

There goes a lady, a teacher and mentor, a colleague and a friend.

From June 2012 until December 2017, Nancy Low Choy APAM held a joint appointment as Professor of Physiotherapy (Aged Care and Neurological Rehabilitation) at Australian Catholic University (ACU) and The Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH).

Why did you choose to look at these two therapeutic exercise approaches for chronic low back pain?

In Brazil, particularly in the early 2000s, there was so much hype about Global Postural Reeducation exercises.

Several prognostic models for neck pain have been developed. Why aren’t these ready for physiotherapists to use?

Studies of prognostic models comprise three consecutive stages: model development with internal validation, external validation in new settings and assessment of a model’s clinical impact.

How many physiotherapists were involved in the study and were they a representative sample?

A total of 273 physiotherapists participated in the study, with a median age of 34.

What is stratified care and what clinical conditions have there been trials of stratified care for?

Stratified care is a model of healthcare where patients are subgrouped according to specific characteristics and then each subgroup is matched to treatment.

Exercise both before and after lung cancer surgery has been shown to be safe and effective, improving symptoms such as shortness of breath, exercise capacity, muscle strength and quality of life. 

PD PROFILE Two upcoming courses address bowel and bladder dysfunction, one focusing on pelvic floor issues in children and the other on neurologically involved clients. Presenter Carina Siracusa outlines what to expect.

Tell us about ‘Treatment of the paediatric pelvic floor: birth to eighteen’. What kind of topics and developmental stages will be discussed?

This course will cover bowel and bladder issues commonly seen in both typically developing and neurologically involved children.