Measured
“Measured” examines how ideals of the ‘standard’ human body have shaped perceptions of difference across history. Drawing on the symbolism of the Vitruvian Man and the author’s lived experience with spinal cord injury, the poem explores the subtle ways that correction and normalization can be embedded within acts of kindness. It invites readers to consider forms of wholeness that exist beyond conventional measures of completeness.
Beyond the Algorithm: Where Curiosity Begins
Detailing her experience treating a chronic pain patient, this student author highlights a few statements from that patient that moved her beyond her academic training to a new level of curiosity and empathy. Simply treating pain symptoms was insufficient for this patient, Nguyen notes. “I wasn’t just treating a person’s spine, I was intersecting with an individual’s story.” The result? The patient summarizes it best: “I didn’t know PT could feel like therapy.”
In the Chair, At the Table
Sometimes, one student’s perspective can change an educator’s view of a long-held “rite of passage.” In this fascinating account, Dr. Eubanks describes receiving a student’s unique take on the 24-hour wheelchair experience. A common assignment in DPT departments nationwide, the students’ results often focus on accessibility issues. However, this student took a different route—and opened up a profound discussion on empathy.
A Critical Review of Health and Rehabilitation Literature Regarding People With Spinal Cord Injuries Who Are Both Caregivers and Care Receivers
Research on spinal cord injury focuses on patients as care receivers. But what about those people with SCI who are also required to be caregivers? These authors conducted a literature review of 13 peer-reviewed studies published between 1980 and 2021 to address that question and more. This article presents their results, and calls for more enlightened understanding, and inclusive research that reflects “the lived realities of caregivers with SCI.”
The Discipline of Curiosity
This thoughtful student essay digs deep into the concept of curiosity, identifying its many possible phases and iterations as a clinician and patient progress through physical therapy. The author describes a specific experience with a patient who stated she just wanted “someone to believe me.” Miles-Williams details the phases of curiosity she passed through to help this patient feel heard. She concludes that curiosity is a form of resistance to assumptions that may inhibit care.
Complexities in Consent: Seeking Permission in Physical Therapy Practice
In light of the revised APTA Code of Ethics’ explicit statement that physical therapists need to obtain ongoing informed consent from patients or clients, this article explores what that standard can mean for clinicians on a daily basis. What is informed consent? Is there a spectrum of consent that can apply to treatment? What are today’s best practices in consent? The author addresses these concepts and details how we might best apply them in the clinic.
Listening Beyond Words: A Reflection on Identity, Care, and Connection
In this poignant account, the author relates a single statement made by a patient that changed her perception of disability, treatment, and “personal agency.” Both she and a student DPT learned a profound truth from this gentleman about the unspoken challenges faced by patients—ones that often go unheard. This powerful article argues for an “alternative approach” to treatment that “prioritizes dignity, agency, and belonging.”
How Individuals with Disabilities Experience Therapeutic Alliance in Physical Therapy: A Qualitative Analysis
Do patients receiving rehabilitation benefit from being treated by a physical therapist who also has a disability? This study addressed that core question. Participants included PTs with or without disabilities and their patients. Results showed that a shared identity of disability “positively impacted therapeutic alliance.” The article details the research process, and offers suggestions for its application in the clinic and the university.
Counting What Matters
In a few words, this powerful poem depicts the experience of a spouse as her loved-one goes through a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. This caregiver is also a physical therapist; her words show what living through this process feels like for “a spouse rather than a clinician.” The poet includes a prose reflection on rehabilitation as a “lived process.” Spending a few moments with these words may well deepen any reader’s understanding and empathy.
Resources: Fostering Resiliency and Authenticity
Our June Resources page highlights a variety of learning experiences for summer reading, listening, and contemplation. A reflection by the page’s author also depicts her recent visit to the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD. Encountering these resources is a terrific way to welcome summer and expand our intellectual horizons. Enjoy.