Top 24 Section on Pediatrics News Items from the APTA Annual Conference, Boston, June 2010
Top 24 Section on Pediatrics News Items from the
APTA Annual Conference, Boston, June 2010
From Lori Glumac, PT, DSc, PCS, Region IV Director
1. The Section on Pediatrics (SOP) received the APTA Outstanding Component Award for 2010! The APTA components are the state Chapters, specialty Sections, and student Assembly.
2. The APTA is working on the development of PT Now, a clinician and consumer portal that will be a shared base of evidence. The clinician portal will be a clinical decision support tool and the consumer portal will focus on “what a PT can do for me”. The APTA Sections and Chapters will all feed into the portal, and the portal will be a gateway to resources. This will be a growing tool with contributions continually added over time. We are aiming for a Jan/Feb 2011 launch beginning with 5-10 critical pediatric topics.
3. Early Intervention issues were the most common concerns from Section members as reported by State Representatives and Regional Directors.
4. A membership survey will be coming out in next month. Please make completing this survey a priority and encourage members to do the same.
5. Guidelines have been drafted for Intensity of PT Intervention, and this will be the topic for the 2011 Research Summit.
6. An Autism Task Force is being formed by our Section’s Practice Committee.
7. Our Section has heard members’ suggestions for a consistent process to review and label the level of Section sponsored educational offerings. This review process will be piloted for continuing education sessions at SoPAC 2011, August 31 – September 2 at Disney World in Anaheim, CA.
8. The SOP is increasing mentoring for PT/PTA faculty as well as promoting residencies and fellowships.
9. The Research Committee has clearly defined all Section research grants.
10. Our Section has heard your request for more educational offerings that do not involve travel. We are planning to increase our offerings with the APTA Learning Center including adding more distance-learning options.
11. The Communications Committee developed a strategic plan for our four main communication areas: the website, newsletter, e-blast, and online community.
12. Our Section’s online community on APTA Communities (replacement for the former listserve) is going very well after a slow start. There are more postings and announcements. Examples of announcements are external grants and external courses but not job postings or products that make money. We do have a monitor.
13. Our Section newsletter (Aug 1 deadline for submissions) will be more “newsy” and less business oriented. We will be developing a template for regular features in the newsletter.
14. Our Section E-blasts will continue to be sent monthly. Be sure to open and read these! They contain brief summaries of the latest Section news. There is an order to the E-blasts. Surveys are at the end, and there is a survey policy in place. Please support research and complete the surveys when possible.
15. The new Section on Pediatrics website will have two separate logins for health care professionals. The login for non-members will give access to consumer information and membership information. The login for members will give full access to all Section resources. We are planning a new page focusing on PCS information. If you haven’t explored the new website, now is the time!
16. At the delegate meeting, the APTA voted to develop an evidence base for activities related to childhood obesity and children with disabilities.
17. The conference structure for SoPAC 2011 has been planned. We are piloting ways to look at submissions and educational content for sessions. We plan to include some sessions for academic and clinical educators. We hope to audiotape the entire conference as well as to place key sessions on the APTA Learning Center. Goofy for Exercise will remain our platform to encourage exercise for children with all abilities. A motion passed to sponsor at least one family of a child with disabilities to Disney World for SoPAC 2011. A nomination form for this will be placed on the Section website.
18. Our Section booth will be upgraded, and we will expand the use of the booth to different venues.
19. The Section on Pediatrics has 14 external liaisons with other professional organizations. These include the National Education Association (NEA), American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), Division for Early Childhood (DEC), and National Joint Committee on Communication Issues for People with Severe Disabilities (NJC). A complete list is available from the Executive Office.
20. The Education Committee is developing a PTA career pathway model.
21. The direction of PTA Advanced Proficiency will be different from the current recognition process. Our Section will provide specific content for pediatrics.
22. We are working on a process and strategy for Clinical Practice Guidelines and Knowledge Translation and moving forward with topic of torticollis.
23. Cindy Sliwa has updated our Section’s Policy and Procedure manual and described it as “a thing of beauty”. It will be posted on the Section website.
24. “New Professional” Section members (those 5-10 years out of school) will be contacted to thank them for their membership and to see if they are interested in serving on a committee. This is a great way to network and to gain understanding of the many benefits of involvement with our Section!
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