What I Need to Know: How does therapy promote growth and facilitate the recovery process? I decided to research this topic because after a close family friend suffered traumatic injuries to her brain, therapy was a constant resource used to facilitate and promote her recovery. After a hit and run accident four years ago, this girl's life would be changed forever. I admired the work of the doctors and therapists that helped her and continue to help her to this day. It was life changing to watch their technique and charisma. I was determined to be able to understand exactly how often different therapy is required and in what ways it can speed up the recovery process.
What I Know or Assume: Before beginning my research, I knew that therapy could be critical to the recovery process. I watched my close friend, Emily, say my name for the first time after her injury. I knew that her ability to speak and her mobility was gradually getting better and this was greatly impacted by therapy. I wanted to know exactly how the various therapies helped facilitate her recovery and this experience allowed me to explore that.
The Story of my Search: Throughout my internship I was able to watch the therapists interact with their patients and eventually I was able to interact with the patients as well. Although I was not able to spend an extremely long amount of time with the kids, I was able to watch them learn and watch them improve in the amount of time I was with them. It was eye opening to see that the little games that would be played with the patients were actually exercising and helping improve their skills. I was also able to see the stretching and more physical aspect of therapy, opposed to the more mental type. I was able to see these kids improve and feel less or no pain by the time they were done with physical therapy. Throughout my rotations, I was also able to see one on one therapy sessions as opposed to therapy in large rooms with multiple patients at a time. I also gathered information through researching academic journals. For instance, in one journal, dance/movement therapy is discussed thoroughly in the process of improving the motor skills of children with autism. The goal of the therapy is ‘‘making emotional contact with removed and/or autistic children; building the body image of the child; facilitating cognitive aspects of development; developing self-control and physicalmastery as well as meaningful self-expression; and facilitating social interaction’’ (Scharoun, 218). These therapy sessions have the most successful outcomes when the session is one on one with the patient and therapist. This atmosphere encourages a relationship of trust to form and with that in place, the patient is more likely to listen and cooperate with the therapist. Dance/movement therapy is designed to "promote movement development and encourage social skills" (Scharoun, 219). The author references a specific case in which the therapy was shown to increase motor skills dramatically to support the success of the therapy. Another article researched was Physical Therapy: Theory, practices, and benefits, and I annotated the preface. The preface gives a quick overview of what to expect of the article and the individual chapter summaries within it. Chapter one is an introduction which discusses long term pain through a study which concludes that “somatocognitive therapy is efficient in improving motor function, pain load and psychological distress in women with CPP” (Bennett). In chapter 2 a conclusion is derived which says “it may be concluded that stress increases are associated with delayed episodic pain flares and pronounced sensory and effective responses to pain occurring ten days later in patients with FS”(Bennett). Chapter 3 discusses the idea that breathing patterns are often time skimmed over and not paid much attention to. Physiotherapists are being looked into in hopes of some sort of better treatment for individuals with irregular breathing patterns. Chapter 4 discusses the importance of collaboration between physical therapists and surgeons when dealing with post-operative patients. Chapter 5 discusses the effects muscle weakness has on neurological impairments. Isokinetic strategies are being looked into to help strengthen and evaluate patient’s weaknesses. In chapter 6 informs readers of the use of mirrors during physical therapy. It is said that mirrors help to control body movements and posture. Another way I gathered information was through an interview with a physical therapist:
- What is the greatest reward of your job?
- My greatest reward is when I get an athlete that has been injured and I can get them back to playing sports and I can get to watch them play.
- What inspired you to want to work as a physical therapist?
- I really liked anatomy and exercises and wanted to do something with sports and exercise and I figured that physical therapy was a good way to get there.
- How did you start your career after college?
- I just applied for a job in a sports medicine clinic and I got it.
- What can I do as a high school student to prepare for a career working with patients in the medical field?
- I think that you should continue trying to take classes that will help you get ready for a medical background like anatomy or biomechanics. Also continuing to get comfortable with carrying on conversations with patients.
- What was the most beneficial skill you acquired throughout your college experience?
- Time management- being able to know that you've got these assignments to get done in a certain time and still manage having a job and a social life.
- Did you plan on becoming a physical therapist?
- I was pretty sure when I graduated high school, and then just going through college and taking all the prerequisites I realized that this is what I wanted to do.
- How have you grown since starting your job at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta?
- I've grown a lot. I went through the residency which really taught me a lot of different ways to go about solving problems with your patients so it's been a lot of growth here at Children's.
- What are your future plans with this job?
- Eventually I'd like to be a manager and manage a couple of clinics, but that is going to take a while to get there.
- What's the biggest challenge you face in this job?
- Getting patients to do their exercises.
- What can you tell me about Children's Healthcare of Atlanta that is not widely known?
- I think that Children's is really focused on making sure that the employees have what they need to do their job and making sure that they're prepared, which isn't the case in all companies but I think that part of Children's, that they take good care of their employees, isn't emphasized enough.
What I Discovered in the End: Throughout observing, Orthotics and Prosthetics, Rehabilitation, Sport Medicine, and occupational therapy, and also collecting information from various different sources, I was able to conclude that therapy promotes growth and facilitates the recovery process through various different stretches, games, and braces/inserts which stimulate muscle growth, flexibility, and strength. I have also been able to conclude that these varying therapies require a lot of time and intense work with the patients in order to achieve the desires results. Patient development does not happen overnight and the process takes many months, sometimes even years, and many dedicated hours. Therapy works on varying different skills such as motor skills, and also the physical condition of the body. There are many unique ways therapy can help a patient and there is an increasing demand for therapists. As more and more children are being diagnosed with autism, therapy is becoming a much needed tool. Injuries are constantly occurring and simple stretches and exercises, as well as braces and inserts, can facilitate the recovery process, therefore, there will constantly be a need for those types of therapists as well.