A: The bigger issue is to help physical therapists as well as other practitioners figure out how to focus on a chronic disorder in the current healthcare system and to think more broadly about the best ways to address chronic disorders. Seeing a multidisciplinary approach gives physicians, rheumatology fellows, PTs—all of our disciplines—a better perspective to recognize that no one can have all of the answers, and that we have to address chronic disease using a lot of different tools and a lot of different disciplines.
Q: Where is PT’s place in that discussion?
A: We certainly can contribute to addressing the impairments and functional loss that result from rheumatologic disorders … but I think patients and physicians don’t always appreciate the role of PT throughout that spectrum. I think that most people recognize that PT is needed after surgery, but I don’t think other disciplines—and frankly, PTs themselves—always see PTs having a role across the spectrum. I think our job in the current generation is to help PTs, patients, and other healthcare providers recognize that we can contribute all the way through, and that we need to have a perspective of wellness and health as well as a perspective of recovering from impairment.
Q: Does an award from ARHP to a therapist help raise that awareness?
A: Yes, I think it does, and I hope the award sheds light on the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and the roles that all of us play together through the spectrum of the healthcare system. We need to move from these prescribed niches to working as a team with a much broader perspective.
ARHP Master Educator Award
Janet Poole, PhD, OTR/L
Professor, Occupational Therapy Graduate Program, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
