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Physical Therapist

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Trauma Care
  • 102 Accesses

Synonyms

Mobility trainer

Definition

A specialist that teaches individuals with physical impairments compensatory techniques for mobility.

The physical therapist teaches the rehab patient techniques to compensate for their functional deficits in the areas of bed mobility, transfers, and ambulation. The patient and PT may focus on techniques for rolling in bed using a combination of leg positioning and pushing with the upper limbs. Teaching the patient to bring their upper body forward to help unweight the buttocks for a bed to wheelchair transfer will also be stressed. They will also provide recommendations on exercise that may help an individual to improve their physical deficit or increase their overall function. Strengthening weak quadricep muscles to improve standing from a seated position or strengthening triceps to improve transfers to the wheelchair serve as examples. Maintaining range of motion of the joints is an important concept at any phase of rehabilitation as joint...

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Recommended Reading

  • O’Sullivan S (2013) Physical rehabilitation. FA Davis, Philadelphia

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Correspondence to Douglas Fetkenhour .

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Fetkenhour, D. (2015). Physical Therapist. In: Papadakos, P.J., Gestring, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Trauma Care. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29613-0_441

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29613-0_441

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29611-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29613-0

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