Cath Connolly APAM is a physiotherapist, PhD candidate and research assistant in the Caring Futures Institute within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University, Adelaide. 

She has a keen interest in the intersection of physiotherapy and dementia care and has successfully sought funding to help her create much-needed clinical guidelines. 

‘In my previous clinical role as a senior physiotherapist working in geriatric inpatient wards, I was often approached by students and junior physiotherapists seeking support and guidance when working with people living with dementia.

'However, the majority of advice I provided was based on my own experience rather than evidence,’ says Cath. 

‘Unfortunately, I couldn’t say to them “Go and read this” because there was a lack of evidence-based information available.’ 

Part of the problem is the current dearth of professional guidelines for physiotherapists. 

‘Other allied health disciplines—including occupational therapy, psychology and pharmacy—have profession-specific dementia guidelines but physiotherapy does not. 

'Despite being one of the most frequently offered allied health services for people living with dementia, we don’t have access to the same level of clinical guidance as other allied health professions,’ says Cath. 

Cath and fellow researchers from the Caring Futures Institute recently undertook a systematic review into existing dementia-related guidelines in other healthcare fields. 

The aim was to determine which guidelines, if any, would be relevant to the physiotherapy scope of practice. 

The results showed that ‘current dementia guidelines partially reflect the physiotherapy scope of practice but varying methodological quality issues led to challenges in interpretation and implementation. 

'Robust physiotherapy-specific guidelines are needed to demonstrate the value of physiotherapy for people with dementia and inform clinical practice, education and policy’. 

‘Once confirming that no guideline existed, we thought, “Great, as a PhD project, let’s develop the first Australian guideline,”’ says Cath. 

‘To guide the project, we formed an independent committee comprising researchers in the field, physiotherapists who work day-to-day with people living with dementia and public representatives from Dementia Australia’s “Dementia Advocates Program”.

'The committee identified several priority topics to be covered by the guideline, including physical activity interventions, pain management, use of mobility devices and rehabilitation.’ 

The next stage will involve gaining feedback on the suggested guideline from practitioners and other stakeholders. 

Cath says, ‘Once the guideline is ready to go, we’ll have a period of public consultation. 

'I’m hoping that by this October we will have done all the heavy work, after which we’ll be looking to disseminate the guideline through various means, including publication in a research journal and webinar presentations.’ 

Cath will use the PRF Seeding Grant funds to gain assistance and feedback from the public in the construction of the guideline. 

‘With this funding, I’m able to compensate the public representatives on the guideline committee for their time,’ she says. 

‘These representatives are actively involved in the decision-making process. People living with dementia deserve to have access to great physiotherapy services and it was really touching to see the value of this research recognised by the PRF.’