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Reframing the Complex Patient: Attending to the Health Effects of Stress and Adversity

  • Register
    • Non-Member - $149
    • PT Member - $99
    • PTA Member - $99
    • Student - $99
    • Post-Professional Student - $99
    • Staff - Free!

This 3-part webinar series will explore the benefits of an integrative approach to the complex patient that puts understanding stress at the core of caregiving. Part one dives into the science of stress - the nuances of stress physiology, health effects of chronic stress, biobehavioral coping mechanisms, and the social determinants of health. Part two advocates for shifts in PT assessments and interventions that we can implement when we see our patients through the lens of stress science. This approach is aligned with the principles of trauma-informed care and biopsychosocial models. Part three discusses barriers to adopting this approach, opportunities for the PT profession to implement integrative models, and important boundaries and self-care for practitioners taking on comprehensive caregiving.

Interested in the whole series - click here.

Learning Objectives

1. Construct rationale for an integrative approach to care of the complex patient

2. Summarize stress physiology and its relevance to clinical PT practice

3. Evaluate how positive, tolerable, and toxic stress impact clinical PT practice

4.Analyze protective and risk factors for stress related sequelae

5. Explore the applicability of the ACEs Study to clinical PT practice

6. Explain allostatic load and its relevance to clinical PT practice

Andra DeVoght

PT, MPH

Has been a physical therapist since 1995. After a decade working at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle’s level 1 trauma hospital, she was inspired to pursue a master’s degree in public health that radically changed her approach to physical therapy and led her to open a private practice, Insight Physio PLLC. Andra’s clinical practice at Insight Physio focuses on a biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain, women’s health, and pediatrics. She collaborates with mental health professionals for the care of complex patients. She teaches therapeutic yoga and mindfulness classes for people experiencing chronic pain or other chronic illnesses.

Andra has focused on continuing education course work that integrates a mind-body approach to health care. These include yoga teacher certification with specialty in trauma informed yoga, mindfulness instructor training, NEAR sciences (neuroscience, epigenetics, ACEs and resilience) teacher training, Explain Pain, Postural Restoration Institute courses, Center for Mind Body Medicine facilitator training, and most recently the advanced level course work with the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute.

In addition to clinical practice Andra collaborates on community-based projects teaching about the social determinants of health and a biopsychosocial approach to health and healthcare. She has developed curriculum and guest lectures for teachers/special-ed staff and middle school, high school , and midwifery students. Central to her biopsychosocial model is a deep understanding of the stress response and the health effects of stress and adversity. When we view patient care through the lens of the stress response, we begin to connect important dots between symptoms, beliefs, behavior and life circumstances.

Sarah Wenger

PT, DPT

Dr. Wenger is an associate clinical professor at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. She received her master of physical therapy degree from Arcadia University in 1997 and her doctor of physical therapy degree from Temple University in 2002. She also is a board-certified clinical specialist in orthopaedic physical therapy. She has published and presented on a range of topics related to her areas of expertise in chronic pain, underserved populations, and clinical reasoning, and she provides pro bono services in a community-based clinic. With an interdisciplinary team, Wenger developed a chronic pain clinical reasoning model and psycho-education program called Power Over Pain.

Course Instructions

  1. Click on the Contents tab to watch the course recording.
  2. Click the Take Quiz button to complete the assessment. Learners will have 3 attempts to pass and must answer at least 70% of questions correctly.
  3. Click Fill Out Survey under the Evaluation listing to provide valuable course feedback. Scroll down on all questions as there may be answer options that expand past the size of the window.
  4. Click the View/Print Your Certificate button under the Certificate listing. You can view/print your certificate at any time by visiting the APTA Learning Center and clicking the CEU Certificate/Transcript link on the left-hand side of the page. 

Need Assistance?

For assistance logging in, accessing activities, claiming credit, or for other questions or concerns, please e-mail learningcenter@apta.org. 

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Assessment
10 Questions  |  3 attempts  |  7/10 points to pass
10 Questions  |  3 attempts  |  7/10 points to pass Please complete the post-course assessment with a score of 70% or better. You have 3 attempts to obtain a passing score.
Evaluation
12 Questions
12 Questions Your comments are important to us! Submit your feedback about the course through this evaluation.
CEU Certificate
Up to 0.20 contact hours available  |  Certificate available
Up to 0.20 contact hours available  |  Certificate available Please download and save certificate for future use.