Volume 13 | February 2018
PT Alberta
Good Practice: The Most Responsible Physiotherapist
When a practice is owned by a non-physiotherapist, the business owner must obtain approval from Physiotherapy Alberta to allow physiotherapists to deliver services at this practice. The Provision of Professional Services rules include the requirement that these practice settings identify a “Most Responsible Physiotherapist.”

Research in Focus: Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Rehabilitation for Children and Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy
Motivating children with cerebral palsy to sustain long-term participation in therapeutic interventions such as exercise can be difficult. The use of virtual reality systems and off-the-shelf gaming systems has been proposed as a potentially clinically effective and engaging treatment option.

Technology in Practice: Emailing or Texting Patients
Email and text messaging constitute powerful tools to enhance communication with patients and fellow health-care providers (provided the technology is used effectively and appropriately).

2018 Funding Opportunities for Members
Financial assistance is now available for members on the General Register who exemplify knowledge translation and lifelong learning. Application deadline is April 3, 2018.

Contract Opportunity: Investigator
Physiotherapy Alberta is recruiting a physiotherapist for the position of investigator. Working in collaboration with the Complaints Director, the investigator is responsible for investigating, or assisting with investigations, and reporting on complaints of professional misconduct received by Physiotherapy Alberta. The successful candidate must be willing to complete an investigator education program and learn about regulatory processes and administrative law. Physiotherapy Alberta will cover education costs. To apply, forward your resume to info@physiotherapyalberta.ca

Why Your Information Needs to be Kept Up-To-Date
Physiotherapy Alberta collects a lot of information from members - everything from where you work, the age of patients you treat, what education you received and even your retirement plans. Have you ever wondered why? Who cares and why you need to share?

2018 Continuing Competence Requirements
Even though Physiotherapy Alberta is revising its Continuing Competence Program, the current requirement for completing Reflective Practice Review activities remains in effect until the new program is implemented. This means that if you are on the General Register you are required to participate in Reflective Practice Review before renewing your practice permit in August/September 2018.  Your date of admission to the General Register impacts the Reflective Practice activities that must be completed. Consider starting work on your Reflective Practice Review activities now.
Questions or Comments?  competence@physiotherapyalberta.ca, 1-800-291-2782 or 780-438-0338.
New Physiotherapy Works Document Available

Physiotherapy Alberta is happy to announce another addition to the Physiotherapy Works documents – Parkinson’s disease. Physiotherapy Works is a series of evidence-based briefings you can use to demonstrate the effectiveness of physiotherapy to patients, other health-care practitioners, and policy makers.

Updated Competency Profile

The National Physiotherapy Advisory Group (NPAG) has released the final version of the 2017 Competency Profiles for Physiotherapists in Canada. The Competency Profile for Physiotherapists in Canada describes the knowledge, skills and attitudes (i.e., competencies) required by physiotherapists in Canada at the beginning of and throughout their career.

Differential Diagnosis of the Painful Shoulder
Date: February 15, 2018
Time: 8:00 a.m.

Dr. Michener will review common shoulder injuries including partial-thickness or full-thickness rotator cuff tears, sub-acromial pain and impingement. The discussion will include mechanisms of injury and principles of differential diagnosis.

Presenter: Dr. Lori Michener
Future Webinars

Supervising Physiotherapy Interns - Expectations and Challenges
Date : March 22, 2018
Time: 8:00 a.m.
Other News
The Health Quality Council of Alberta is accepting applications until February 11 for the Patient Experiences Awards. The awards are open to an individual or a team of health-care workers in Alberta involved in designing and implementing an initiative that made a significant positive impact on patients’ experiences in accessing or receiving health-care services. Click here for more information.

The Scientific Office of Alberta’s Seniors Health Strategic Clinical Network™ is conducting a project to determine the priority areas for seniors’ health research. The purpose of this project is to ask patients, their caregivers, and clinicians what they see as important to seniors’ health in Alberta. This information will be compared to what is already known from research studies and to prioritize research that focuses on the unanswered questions. If you wish to participate, the survey is online. Click here for more information.

The Alberta Health Services Bone and Joint Health Strategic Clinical Network has received a number of expressions of interest from Alberta physiotherapists to attend a GLA:D training session, a program designed to treat hip and knee osteoarthritis. Please notify Kira Ellis at kira.ellis@ahs.ca by February 23rd if you are interested in attending an Alberta-based training session. 50 – 60 participants are required in order to run the session. Scheduling of a session would be based on the number of responses received. To learn more about GLA:D, please go to the GLA:D Canada website at http://gladcanada.ca/
Learn together with your colleagues in an easy-to-use forum community. Beyond the forum, you get access to resources, course reviews, industry news and the latest ignite podcasts. Join nearly 3,000 physiotherapists from across Canada! These are just some of the great discussions happening on ignitephysio:
PD Events

Have you checked out the PD Events page recently? This February, there are 15 events happening in and around Alberta!


Evidence Corner

Check out this updated systematic review and meta-analysis on the effect of exercise on cognitive function in adults over 50.

Volunteer Opportunities

Physiotherapy Alberta is recruiting members for its Professional Conduct Committee! A panel of members from the Professional Conduct Committee are selected to participate in complaint reviews and/or hearings.

Physiotherapy Alberta | 780.438.0338 | info@physiotherapyalberta.ca | www.physiotherapyalberta.ca