My Journey Using Art as Physical Therapy
Babs McDonald describes her journey toward recovery from an ischemic stroke through painting and sketching. Through numerous examples of her artwork, she details her experiences pushing through impairment to create images chronicling her life. Based on her success, she advocates for the use of fine art techniques to foster upper limb movement in stroke survivors. Creating her art, she says, has taught her that “there are no failures in my recovery, only new challenges.”
Dynamic Autonomy in Chronic Pain Management: Frida Kahlo Illustrates
As today’s healthcare professionals struggle to address the challenges of chronic-pain management, Debra Gorman-Badar argues that current multidisciplinary programs are missing a crucial component: an updated conception of patient autonomy. She details how expressive therapies help patients integrate their chronic-pain experiences into their lives and promote healing self-knowledge—as Frida Kahlo did through her remarkable paintings.
What’s at Stake With Biomusic? Ethical Reflections on an Emerging Technology
Biomusic, emerging technology that translates physiological signals into sound/musical output may offer utility as an assistive technology for people with autism. The authors explore a variety of perspectives in humanities and social sciences to reflect on the ethical issues at stake with the use of biomusic in rehabilitation.
Perspectives On ‘Person-Centeredness’ From Neurological Rehabilitation and Critical Theory: Toward a Critical Constellation
Jenni Aittokallio, PT, MH and Anna Ilona Rajala, PT, MA explore in-depth the concept of person-centeredness in healthcare and rehabilitation. As a part of their research, they interviewed recipients of neurological rehabilitation, to determine what in their treatment had been truly meaningful for them. The authors suggest that person-centeredness is best viewed as encompassing a complex constellation of factors and issues surrounding each unique patient.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Honoring 30 Years of Civil Rights Protections
July 26, 2020 will mark the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The ADA National Network, which provides information, guidance, and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is celebrating the act’s 30th anniversary with programs and events throughout the year and on its actual anniversary in July. Read this article to learn more about the ADA 2020 anniversary event and other resources.
Toward True Equity: A Call for Further Revisions to the ADA
In a timely and important editorial, Jamie Fleshman, SPT calls for new amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act. She identifies a critical contributor to American disability: the continued inaccessibility of public spaces. Attention must be drawn, she argues, to an American infrastructure that has been constructed for “a certain set of abilities,” and is profoundly outdated.
Searching Behind “No!”
Congratulations to Northwestern University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program graduate student Bethany Shieh, SPT, the winner of the annual physical therapy student essay contest co-sponsored by the ACAPT Consortium for the Humanities, Ethics, and Professionalism (CHEP) and JHR. In her essay, “Searching Behind ‘No!'”, Ms. Shieh illustrates how we can create space to understand the pain, suffering and frustration that accompany and influence patient care, if we are willing to enter and dwell in our patient’s life experience.
Spring 2020 Resources
Download the article (pdf) Table of Contents What We’re Watching How Doctors Can Help Low-Income Patients and Still Make a Profit by P.J. Parmar, MD In this TED Talk, Dr. P.J. Parmar shares how he’s been able to create and maintain a successful medical practice serving low-income patients. His practice focuses on the personal and […]
COVID-19 Resources: Health, Humanities, and Pandemic Intersections
To help JHR readers—and clinicians dealing with the pandemic—find inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and even some entertainment during these days of crisis and necessary isolation, Jamie Fleshman, SPT has compiled an extensive list of thought-provoking resources. The materials accessed through the links offered here address ethics, disability, a wide range of the arts, education, and clinical information—all collated from a humanities perspective. Readers are invited to access it frequently for inspiration during the weeks ahead.
Reviving and Reflecting on “Portrait of Spirit: One Story at a Time”
Both a book and an exhibit, Portrait of Spirit: One Story at a Time by Billy Howard and Maggie Holtzberg offers new perspectives while challenging the way we view the lived disability experience. Using stunning photographs and beautifully written narratives from Portrait of Spirit, this piece serves as an ode to the groundbreaking stories that started it all while advocating for continued societal change for people living with disabilities.