Online Education
Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology: Online Learning Webinars (2018)
I was commissioned by the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology to develop educational webinars on the topic of Assessment in Clinical Exercise Physiology for live presentation and placement within their online learning library. The Candidate Module was presented live in April of 2018 and the Advanced Module was presented live in July 2018.
Candidate Module: Assessment in Clinical Exercise Physiology
In keeping with the core competencies of the CSEP-CEP certification,
Part One aims to provide a comprehensive review of the principles/components of assessment in the clinical exercise physiology context.
Part Two includes a review of a selection of assessment protocols commonly used in exercise physiology and presents an evidence-based approach to building an assessment strategy.
To view further details or to purchase the webinar, click on the button below to access the CSEP online learning library.
Advanced Module: Clinical Assessment for Musculoskeletal & Neurological Conditions
In keeping with the core competencies of the CSEP-CEP certification,
Part One provides a review the principles/components of assessment in the clinical exercise physiology context and presents a selection of protocols that are commonly used in the assessment of MSK and Neurological conditions.
Part Two presents an evidenced-based approach to building an assessment strategy.
Part Three presents three case studies in musculoskeletal conditions based upon the latest research and using the evidence-based practice approach.
Part Four presents three case studies in neurological conditions based upon the latest research and using the evidence-based practice approach.
To view further details or to purchase the webinar, click on the button below to access the CSEP online learning library.
CSEP Twitter Live: Q & A Session
As a final wrap up to the Advanced Module, I was asked to participate in a live online Q & A Twitter #CSEP-Gold Chat. CSEP posted some questions to which I answered via a live and interactive chat. I found this approach to a Q & A beneficial as it not only attracted participants that had previously enrolled in the live webinars but also brought in the greater CSEP member community. I have provided some of the CSEP questions and my corresponding ‘tweets’ below.
Q & A
What are the most important factors to consider when creating an assessment strategy?
Safety of the client.
The goals of the client .
The outcomes that are important to monitor as directed by the client’s medical history or from the referring doctor or specialist.
The outcomes that will provide results to inform your individualized exercise prescription.
What are the specific challenges and rewards for working with these clinical populations?
Most of the time, improvement and progress are achieved very quickly and clients are generally filled with gratitude. Even small improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and endurance, balance have a large effect on daily life for someone managing chronic disease.
For me, taking the time to educate and inform a client of their condition and providing tools to help them better manage their condition is rewarding. I feel that this is just as important as providing them an evidenced-based exercise program.
Challenges are that some conditions and advancing age result in unavoidable declines in function that regardless of how hard the client works.
Flare-ups and regressions that occur with certain diseases are a challenge and also the psychosocial aspects of how the conditions will affect client motivation and success.
What assessments in your toolkit do you use most often and why?
I use the same strategy in developing an assessment plan for my clients as I presented in the webinars. As a result, I seldom have the same strategy for any of my clients.
For functional/physiological outcomes in clinical practice I probably use the 6MWT, 30sSTS, TUG, and Grip Strength the most. Why? Easy and informative for within the clinic setting.
There are normative psychometric data to support interpretation across most chronic disease populations.
I also like to use relevant patient-reported outcome measures and subjective history to best understand the clients' feelings on the impact of their chronic disease on their activities of daily living.
If I am approached by a potential client who has a condition I haven't worked with before where should I start looking for resources?
Do a literature search for a review paper on the condition and the clinical practice guidelines. This will provide you a more scientific understanding of the condition and how it is managed.
Then do a literature search for any position statements or exercise guidelines for the management of the condition.
If you have a client with a very rare disease, you may not find much information in the literature as typically diseases with low prevalence do not get the funding required for large studies. You will have to then use clinical reasoning, your clients' subjective interview information, and feedback to guide you. You can also try and connect with the clients' specialist and work together to create a management plan.