Report - 2007
School of Physiotherapy
The entry-level Physiotherapy program continues to attract large numbers of applicants and the calibre of students accepted into the program is very high. Enrolments in the post-graduate certificate and masters programs in Sport and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy are attracting more students each year and a double Masters Sport/Musculoskeletal is planned for the future. The Masters by research, PhD and Professional Doctorate degrees continue to attract very capable candidates.
The physiotherapy program at Bendigo has now been fully implemented with the majority of the graduating cohort taking up positions in regional and rural health services. The Clinical Schools model has been established and the management committee meets monthly with representatives from the 6 clinical schools and from the student body.
Professorial Appointments, significant retirements, other staff recognitions
In 2007 Keith Hill was appointed Professor of Allied Health at Northern Health. Keith is well known for his work at the National Ageing Research Institute in the area of falls prevention and exercise for older people. Professor Hill has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has attracted research grants exceeding seven million dollars, including a recent large grant from the Department of Health and Ageing for the study “An individualised, facilitated and sustainable approach to implementing the evidence in preventing falls in residential aged care facilities”. This new Professor of Allied Health position at Northern Health adds to the three research appointments the School of Physiotherapy has now made in our Clinical Schools at Eastern Health and Bayside Health, and at Ballarat Health Services. This talented team of researchers will undertake clinically-relevant research as well as encourage and mentor clinicians with an interest in research.
Key developments in Teaching and Clinical Education
In 2007 the course proposal for a double degree Bachelor of Health Science/Master of Physiotherapy Practice was approved by Academic Board and planning has commenced for the development and accreditation of the new program to commence in 2009. The Bachelor of Physiotherapy has its final intake in 2008.
The School of Physiotherapy was involved in two major teaching and learning projects in 2007. The Department of Human Services funded the La Trobe University/Northern Health project “Learning together to work together” to develop a model of interprofessional clinical education. Manuals for students and facilitators will be available later in 2008 and the work widely disseminated. The Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education has funded a priority project to develop a national instrument to assess physiotherapy students’ clinical competency. The instrument is now undergoing the first field trial following successful piloting at La Trobe University.
Upscaling in 2007 of a model of e-clinical experience initially funded by the Department of Human Services attracted the Faculty of Health Sciences teaching and learning prize for an innovative real-time videoconferenced clinical experience. The School is also participating in a project funded by a large ARC grant to investigate the use of simulated learning as an adjunct to clinical experience.
Key Developments in Research
Associate Professor Julie Bernhardt was awarded the Australian Physiotherapy Association (Vic Branch) Achievement Award in recognition of her sustained contribution to research in neurological physiotherapy. Associate Professor Anne Holland received a number of research awards from the American Association for Respiratory Care, the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand/Asia Pacific Society of Respirology and the Australian Physiotherapy Association. The results of a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (RCT) of exercise training for interstitial lung disease, funded by Victorian Tuberculosis and Lung Association were recently accepted for publication and is the first ever study to document beneficial effects of exercise in a group of patients with few treatment options.
Dr Nora Shields, Professors Nick Taylor and Karen Dodd completed a RCT on the effect of progressive resistance training on muscle strength, muscle endurance and physical function in adults with Down syndrome. Their work found the training was a safe and feasible fitness option that can improve upper limb muscle endurance in adults with Down syndrome. The study was a finalist in the Victorian Sports and Recreation awards presented by the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development in November 2007 and a full report on the study will be published in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2008.
Professors Nick Taylor and Karen Dodd are chief investigators, along with Professor Kerr Graham and Ass Prof Richard Baker from the Royal Children’s Hospital on a NHMRC project grant for $256,050 to investigate targeted strength training to improve the walking ability of adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy. The project will start in 2008
Nick Taylor and Hylton Menz are chief investigators on a NHMRC project grant ($723,000) led from the University of Melbourne (Professor Meg Morris) that is investigating whether a home-based rehabilitation program can reduce falls in people with Parkinson disease.
Key Developments in Community Service
Over 300 staff and students at La Trobe Bundoora campus attended a health promotion lecture delivered on Back Pain Prevention by Sports Physiotherapist and coordinator of the post-graduate Sports program, Mark Alexander.
Associate Professor Anne Holland is the Editor of new Australian clinical practice guidelines for physiotherapy in cystic fibrosis. The guidelines on evidence-based physiotherapy treatment of cystic fibrosis will be made available to clinicians across the country in 2008.
Key Developments in International Activities
Twenty-five Physiotherapy students from Kobe, Japan undertook a week-long program of lecture, practical classes and clinic visits. This is the third year that this program has been offered.
An agreement is being negotiated to deliver the Bachelor of Health Science/Master of Physiotherapy Practice entry-level program through an education partner in Malaysia from 2009.
PhDs and Professional Doctorates completed in 2007
Rosemary Corrigan PhD, Community Ambulation: Perceptions of Clients and Physiotherapists in Rural and Regional Australia
The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of physiotherapists practicing in rural and regional communities about the factors that influence their decision-making and preparation of clients to walk in their community and to understand the client’s perspective on the barriers or facilitators to their resumption of walking in their community after discharge from hospital.
Comparisons of the physiotherapists’ and clients’ perceptions reveal some similarities and some significant differences. Physiotherapists know about community differences in theory, but do not necessarily adjust their clinical practice to reflect this. Clients acknowledge fatigue as a primary barrier to their resumption of walking in the community. This finding suggests the need for greater levels of strength and endurance training in rehabilitation practice to facilitate a client’s community ambulation.
Peter Malliaras, PhD
This thesis investigated the extent of patellar tendon injury over a competitive season among 113 volleyball players competing below the National-level, and the potential aetiological factors associated with this injury. Baseline prevalence of abnormal patellar tendon imaging was 62%, but did not increase over the season. Pain prevalence was 48% at the beginning of the season, but was more likely to resolve over the season than develop. Male gender and larger waist girth were associated with injury.
Nataliya Schkuratova PhD
The effect of age and Parkinson’s disease on balance control during walking
This thesis examined the effect of age and Parkinson’s disease (PD) on gait adjustments to unexpected changes in floor surfaces and pathway width. Compared with young adults, older people could not gradually reduce base of support when changing to a narrow walkway. Compared with age matched controls, people with PD were unable to keep their feet within the margins of the narrow walkway. This evidence of deficits of anticipatory and reactive gait adjustments in older people and people with PD provided a framework for the conceptualization of balance control during walking.