2011 APTEI Acupuncture & Dry Needling (ADN) Program

advOCaCy ChaMpIOn
The Central Toronto District’s Email Campaign
By Meghan Buttle and Josh Williams
The Ontario Physiotherapy Association would like to recognize the essential role our members play in effecting change within our health care
system. As we approach a provincial election this year, we want to highlight and congratulate some of our members who have advocated on behalf
of the profession and patients.
Leading up to the Ontario provincial election in the fall of 2007,
the executive of the Central Toronto District (CTD) of the Ontario
Physiotherapy Association (OPA) undertook an e-mail advocacy
campaign to highlight issues relating to the funding and provision
of physiotherapy services in Ontario for the candidates of the three
major political parties in all 17 ridings within the CTD’s boundaries.
During the provincial election campaign, four separate messages
were e-mailed on consecutive days to each candidate addressing different
issues surrounding physiotherapy in Ontario and the impact
on the healthcare system and patient outcomes. These issues were:
access to publicly funded physiotherapy and the effect of the partial
delisting of services in 2005; health human resources and the role
that physiotherapists can play in improving access and reducing wait
times; expanded scope of practice legislation that would allow physiotherapists
to use all of their knowledge and skills to provide care
to Ontarians; and access to physiotherapy services, particularly those
provided in hospital outpatient departments, in light of the numerous
closures of these services across Ontario. Each message was tailored
to reflect the candidate’s party platform on healthcare and it also
addressed gaps in their proposals with solutions that involved the
inclusion of physiotherapists.
Many of the candidates that responded to the e-mails were supportive
of our profession’s commitment to practice using our full
scope of knowledge and skills as well as the important role physiotherapists
play in a publicly funded healthcare system.
With the election quickly approaching in October 2011 it is time
again for physiotherapists to consider how each political party will
Innovation In Practice
Continued from page 9
At that time, a review of the evidence found no papers on the use
of golf in rehabilitation, specifically post stroke. A pilot study was
designed to examine the effects of TGR on balance and quality of
life in people with chronic stroke (Shatil and Garland 2000, Shatil et
al 2005). Results demonstrated significant improvements in balance
and quality of life that were not present in a control group. TGR
was implemented as a summer program for persons with stroke. It
has since expanded to assist any person with a physical limitation to
their golf performance. Over 120 persons have participated in TGR
since its inception, and all have safely returned to golf activities and
improved their steadiness along the way. Research on the benefits of
TGR continues, with outcome measure data collected each season.
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address the growing gap in the demand for healthcare services and
the ability to provide them, as well as the role that physiotherapists
can play in creating solutions including:
• Supporting rehabilitation, specifically physiotherapy, across the
Continuum of Care to reduce hospital length of stay and
improve patient outcomes
• Inclusion of physiotherapists in primary care models including
Family Health Teams and Community Health Centres
• Increasing community based and outpatient services to keep
patients in their homes and out of hospital emergency departments
and long term care institutions
• Reducing wait times for spinal patients to see a surgeon by triaging
those that would benefit from conservative management
including physiotherapy
• Reducing the complications caused by obesity, including heart
disease, stroke, hypertension and diabetes, through active living,
prescribed exercise and education
• Management of chronic disease to reduce hospital re-admissions,
promote independent living and community integration
The Central Toronto District would encourage all districts and
members to speak to your MPPs and candidates in your riding
regarding these issues and others that affect your profession. The
authors of this article would like to acknowledge the members of
the executive committee of the Central Toronto District during the
e-mail advocacy campaign: Mandy Smart, Meghan Buttle, Dimple
Mistry, Jean Liu, Emma Dickinson, Gillian Bone and Kelly O’Brien.
The vision of TGR is that golf and other sport specific activities
are available for interested patients across the continuum of care on
a national scope. Future plans for this innovative approach include
training rehabilitation professionals so that they may implement TGR
programs in their own communities. For those interested in learning
more, TGR will be presented in Whistler BC at Congress 2011 as
part of a 60 minute interactive workshop.
References
1. Shatil SM, Garland SJ, Ivanova T, Mochizuki G. Effects of
Therapeutic Golf Rehabilitation on Golf Performance, Balance,
and Quality of Life in individuals Following Stroke: Pilot Study.
Physiotherapy Canada 2005; 57:101-112.
2. Shatil SM, Garland SJ. Strengthening in a Therapeutic Golf
Program for Individuals Following Stroke. Special Topics in Geriatric
Rehabilitation. 2000; 15(3):83-94.