Is the Wii here to stay?

There has been much discussion around the PT blogosphere about the Wii and its implications for physical therapy. I tend to hang out in the negative camp, but I do realize the Wii could have positive benefits with both the elderly and patients with neurological deficits. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is providing $2 million in grants, which will be awarded to 12 research teams "to help strengthen the evidence base that supports the development and use of digital interactive games to improve players' health behaviors and outcomes." I was unaware there was any solid, current evidence supporting the Wii for rehab purposes, but I guess time will tell if this is $2 million well spent.

I've got to post a link to this video as well. It's a great spoof on Amy Whinehouse's "Rehab."

Blog Comments Redone

So I probably should've done this before my last post, but sometimes I can be a little slow.  As you might have heard Disqus is allowing comments to be a little more than just comments, but a mini-network.  Evidence in Motion has a good explanation of it.  Hopefully it will work and facilitate some good discussions.  Now I just have to find material worthy to discuss.

Manipulations and Free Speech

Wow! A group of University of Puget Sound students posted a video highlighting the beneficial effects of manipulation in controlling back pain.  EIM brought the video some attention, which has now caused quite a stink.  During the credits, two girls who were nicknamed C7 and S4 were pointing out their said dermatomes in a picture of themselves  (a.k.a. one girl had her 3rd digit up and the other girl was pointing at her butt).  Note, the video was taken down and the credits were edited to include only a single picture of the class.  The tragedy of living in a politically correct world.  As you can see from the comments that followed on the EIM blog, the PT profession is in dire straights, and it's not because of the students from Puget Sound.  Feel free to join in the "war of words" either here or there, but regardless of your feelings, be proud of the students for trying to make a difference in their state.  If more of us can have this type of passion for our profession, vision 20/20 will hopefully come a little early.  

PTs and Title IX

Michael Sokolove writes a great article in the New York Times entitled “The Uneven Playing Field.” In this article, Michael looks at the increasing number of female participants in sports, and, as a result, the increased prevalence of injuries, specifically ACL injuries, in these female athletes. What’s great about this article though, is the author looks to a PT for answers about how to help these girls decrease their risk for injury. Holly Silvers, a physical therapist and director of research at the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation, does a great job marketing the PT profession by first pointing out the girls she saw at risk for overuse as well as acute traumatic injuries to the author. She then goes a step farther, when asked if she could help these girls by saying that “yes, in four to six weeks I could improve [them] a lot. In three months, I could get the job done. I would educate the muscles, educate the nerves. [They] could build strength and change [their] patterns.”
I have a great mentor who always quotes Benjamin Franklin, “ An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Now where’s that direct access?