Abstract

Many community-based research studies involving people with disabilities have shown that primary care physicians and other health care professionals have limited knowledge about specific disabling conditions and about disability issues in general. The RRTC on SCI: Promoting Health and Preventing Complications through Exercise will work with consumers with spinal cord injury (SCI) as educators of physical therapy and medical school students in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area starting in 2005. SCI educators will teach and inform local area medical and physical therapy students and residents in lecture series based on their personal experiences about the importance of physical activity and exercise to prevent health problems and secondary conditions, and about general disability topics around SCI. This program, entitled the Consumer Professional Partner Program (CPPP), builds on similar programs that involve consumers with disabilities in the education of health care professionals. The program will consist of different educational modules that will be tailored to the curriculum already offered at medical and physical therapy schools. Currently, we are in the process of developing the SCI educator training manual. For the manual we have identified the following topical areas:

Module 1: Disability knowledge and skills

• Living with a disability: Introduction of the social model of disability or looking beyond the body

• General barriers for people with disability in society

• Particular challenges in the provider office (separate information for different settings – i.e. hospital, specialty physician, physical therapist)

• Communication issues

Module 2: Spinal Cord Injury and Prevention of Secondary Complications

• SCI quick facts: What is SCI? What are the principal issues in rehabilitation?

• Common medical complications and secondary conditions after SCI

• Prevention strategies; peer-modeled demonstrations of prevention techniques

Module 3: Active, healthy living and exercise

• The benefits of an active life style and exercise

• The links between exercise and prevention

Module 4: Presentation

• Presentation and communication skills for SCI Educators

Each module will be part of the manual, which will be accompanied by educational materials, such as CD and web-based video vignettes, power point slideshows and presentations, and print resources.

Ultimately, we expect this program to be offered over the Internet as a self-education module, for students and health care professionals nationwide as part of our Virtual Resource Network on Exercise and Prevention (VRNEP).

This webcast is an invitation to you to help us design and shape this program. Please send us your ideas and comments as to what would be important and pertinent information to be included in a SCI curriculum taught to physical therapy students. Help us answer the following questions:

(1) What should health care professionals learn from consumers about living with a SCI and disability?

(2) What should health care professionals know about prevention of, and care for, secondary conditions?

(3) What should health care professionals learn about healthy and active living for people with SCI?

(4) How can we improve the professional behavior of health care professionals toward people with SCI and other disabling conditions?

(5) What additional content modules would you propose?

Please email your thoughts and ideas to Thilo Kroll at Thilo.Kroll@medstar.net