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Perspectives

A Challenge from the ‘Otherside of America’: Perspectives from a Black Clinician

In this stirring account, Oluremi Wanjiru Onifade and Sarah Caston present an honest and compelling look at the challenges within the physical therapy educational community for Black and brown people. Onifade paints a picture of her life growing up as a Kenyan/Nigerian queer-identifying Black American, and the obstacles she overcame on the path to her DPT. Her account ends where she challenges her colleague Caston: "There is a lack of representation of Black and brown people teaching in your PT program. Are you willing to do something?" In response, Caston describes how that direct question changes her perception as an educator. She asks, "What does it look like for me, a white, heterosexual, cis-gender woman, to stand up to racism? And again, I ask, what does it look like for the profession of physical therapy to do the same?"...

Learning Sciences in Curricula: Making Excellence in Physical Therapist Education Stick

This companion piece to the McDaniels article builds on their arguments for improved learning and applies them to physical therapy education. Steven Ambler advocates for the integration of Learning Sciences in physical therapy curricula. “Curricula that position the student, faculty, and profession as learner, and consider the plurality of learning theories, can help us all reach a deeper sense of what it means to be a physical therapist serving society,” he notes....

Communicating in the Silence: Mental Health and Cultural Considerations in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Population

"Communicating in the Silence" focuses on the challenges that deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) patients can face when seeking mental healthcare. Marcela Almeida and Katherine Kosman detail the barriers to care of one DHH young man, whose "medical diagnosis and treatment path were substantially changed by a more careful assessment that considered the unique aspects of the DHH population." The authors' recommendations for the future include an argument for greater use of Certified Deaf Interpreters in healthcare....

Agency Restored, Dignity Preserved: Lessons Learned as an Art Historian About Enhancing Quality of Life for People With Dementia

“What started as a narrowly-focused mission to welcome people with dementia … into our museum for the first time evolved into a much broader and more profound project: to reinvent what agency within the museum would look and feel like for visitors living with dementia,” author Susan Shifrin notes in this compelling piece. She details her journey from that experience to founding ARTZ Philadelphia, a program that invites people with dementia to serve as mentors to program participants....

Fostering Hope and Coping While Living With Lymphedema: A Visual Narrative for Engaging Cancer Survivors and Caregivers

With compelling quotes from participants, and links to their groundbreaking video, these authors relate the fundamental impact of a series of workshops they developed to help cancer survivors live with lymphedema. The lymphedema video is “an accessible tool for patients, caregivers, students, and healthcare professionals,” they note. “We echo the participants’ hope that it will encourage dialogue between health professionals and patients.”...

Art Informing Interdisciplinary Care for a Veteran Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Study

This poignant case study, featuring impressive art created by a military veteran with traumatic brain injury and comorbidities, expresses the power of Art Therapy to heal profound physical and psychological wounds. “The veteran’s art increased his self-awareness while informing the clinical team of his ongoing experience,” Gayla Elliott notes. His art and his words make a compelling case for adding art to the rehabilitation process....

Use of a Patient-Educator to Train Doctor of Physical Therapy Students Regarding Sexuality and Disability

In this thought-provoking article, Cara Felter, PT, DPT, MPH describes a paired approach between a faculty member and an individual with a spinal cord injury to teach physical therapy students about sexuality and disability, and offer guidance for speaking with patients about this sensitive subject....

Mind Mapping: Using Visual Thinking to Improve Patient Care and Quality of Life

Phillip Kellogg, SPT, and Ali Nogi, PT, DPT, present an overview of the practice of Mind Mapping—a visual-thinking tool used for organizing information. Citing Dr. George Huba’s use of Mind Mapping to support his independence as he lives with dementia, the authors make the case for the technique’s effective application in healthcare and rehabilitation....

Piloting an Undergraduate Survey Course in Medical Humanities and Social Medicine: Lessons, Tradeoffs, and Institutional Context

Eileen P. Anderson-Fye, EdD, and colleagues report on the development of a pilot undergraduate survey course that offered an overview of disciplinary approaches to health across the humanities and social sciences—and provided rich rewards to participating students. ...
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