Evidence-Based Rehabilitation Using Tai Chi

Brian Trzaskos, PT, LMT, CSCS, CMP, MI-C

Online Course

Includes all course content in digital format

Prerequisites Required
6 hours - Provided by Summit Professional Education

Item: physi-ONDEMANDPTBABT1

Description

The CDC reports that, "each year, 3 million older people are treated in emergency departments and over 800,000 patients are hospitalized because of falling, resulting in about $50 billion in medical costs related to non-fatal fall injuries and $754 million spent related to fatal falls." In older adults, falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries and fractures. While physical injuries associated with unintentional falls are well documented, the psychological costs are less obvious and more persistent. Studies reveal that up to 50% of people with a fear of falling restrict or eliminate social and physical activity because of that fear. Presently, the combination of an aging population, shrinking third party reimbursements, and Medicare non-payment for hospital related falls and traumas guarantees that cost effective and high return on investment services will become of increasing value.

Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese exercise method, requiring no special equipment and shown to improve cognitive skills, memory, psychological wellness, strength, flexibility, immune function, and balance; and is now being advocated by the CDC and Harvard Medical School for fall prevention and functional improvement programs. This interactive 6-hour course offers participants the opportunity to experience the practice and principles of Tai Chi as they apply to balance and functional rehabilitation. Upon completion, attendees will have new, effective, evidence-based, and insurance reimbursable treatment tools that can be immediately employed with clients resulting in improved functional outcomes, higher program compliance, and greater patient satisfaction.

Highlights

  • Immediately implement holistic, rehabilitative Tai Chi principles into a wide variety of client treatments
  • Practice 13 rehabilitative Tai Chi movements in sitting, standing, and walking that can be applied the very next day
  • Leave with an easy-to-use home exercise plan framework that improves patient compliance and outcomes
  • Enjoy extensive labs for experiencing the energizing benefits of Tai Chi firsthand
  • Effectively validate the benefits of Tai Chi in rehabilitation to even the most resistant patients and colleagues

Learning Objectives

  1. Examine the therapeutic effects of the Rehabilitative Tai Chi principles in fall risk patients.
  2. Relate Rehabilitative Tai Chi movements to the four primary physiologic balance systems.
  3. Demonstrate the use of body, breath, and vision Rehabilitative Tai Chi strategies in seated and standing positions with fall risk clients.
  4. Examine the relationship between functional balance assessment tools and the use of Rehabilitative Tai Chi with fall risk clients.
  5. Demonstrate the use of body, breath, and vision Rehabilitative Tai Chi strategies in stepping and walking with fall risk clients.
  6. Justify the use of Rehabilitative Tai Chi as a balance enhancement and functional improvement modality in patient treatment planning.

Course Content

Evidence-Based Rehabilitation Using Tai Chi
SCORM Package
Next Steps
Module
  1. Tai Chi for Balance Enhancement
    1. Tai Chi philosophy
    2. Tai Chi and the autonomic nervous system
    3. Rehabilitative Tai Chi principles
    4. Mindfulness in rehabilitation
    5. Interactive demonstration
  2. Tai Chi Basics
    1. Breathing
    2. Seated movements
    3. Standing movements
    4. Functional mental imagery
    5. Implications for OT, functional ADLs
  3. Balance Systems Review
    1. Musculoskeletal
      1. Strength
      2. Flexibility
      3. Joint ROM
    2. Sensory
      1. Vision
      2. Vestibular
      3. Proprioceptive
    3. Neuromuscular
      1. Synergies/coordination
    4. Cognitive
      1. Executive function
      2. Fear of falling
  4. Functional Assessment Tools & Tai Chi Practice
    1. Berg balance scale
    2. Dynamic gait index
    3. Functional reach test
    4. Interactive demonstration
  5. Tai Chi Progressions
    1. Tai Chi stepping
    2. Tai Chi walking
    3. Tai Chi for functional integration
    4. Implications for OT, functional ADLs
  6. Rehabilitative Tai Chi Evidence, Documentation, and Home Exercise Programs
    1. Evidence-based research for balance enhancement and functional improvement
    2. Successful documentation for rehabilitative Tai Chi
    3. Effective home exercise program strategies
Brian Trzaskos, PT, LMT, CSCS, CMP, MI-C, is a body-mind rehabilitation expert and co-creator of the Sensation-Based Mindset method. He believes that education is powerful medicine that allows people to access their greatest healing potentials and has extensive experience in diverse clinical settings ranging from working at the world- renowned Craig Hospital for TBI and SCI Rehabilitation, to operating his own holistic center in Upstate New York. Mr. Trzaskos is well known for making even the most difficult concepts easy to understand and immediately applicable to clinical practice. He is the president of NEW Health Inc. and director of the Institute for Rehabilitative Qigong & Tai Chi, which specializes in the integration of western body-mind science and the ancient healing arts of Qigong & Tai Chi. As a practicing physical therapist and student of eastern movement and meditation practices for over two decades, Mr. Trzaskos holds advanced certifications in both Western and Eastern healing arts truly bringing together the best of both worlds in modern rehabilitative care. He earned his degree in Physical Therapy from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

DISCLOSURES

FINANCIAL: Brian Trzaskos is compensated as the owner of NEW Health Inc. and by Summit as an instructor.

NONFINANCIAL: Brian Trzaskos has no nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

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