This article was first published in the APCP Newsletter on 3 January 2023
‘Alone, we can do so little; together we can do so much’
Helen Keller (disability rights advocate /political activist/ lecturer /author)
When PPIPS was formed in 2016 it was much welcomed by paediatric physios who were working in Independent Practice (IP) - to have a voice within APCP and to feel valued members of the organisation. Private practitioners have existed for many years and PhysioFirst, which was created in 1952 to support them, continues today although its membership is primarily physios working in the world of adults. PPIPS endeavours to bridge that gap and frequently signposts members to colleagues, suitable courses / webinars etc to address their specific need.
A new resource for all those thinking of entering IP or already working in this area 'Working in Independent and Private Practice' is now available.
PPIPS and independent physios are grateful for the support of APCP to create a paediatric specific directory so families can source a suitably experienced physio to address their child’s needs with guidance for parents / guardians / case mangers as to the questions they should ask when sourcing an independent paediatric physio.
PPIPS has provided many webinars to support practice and is continuing to source advice and support, not only for IPs but for the benefit of the profession as a whole. This can be seen in the soon-to-be-available revised paediatric outcome measures (now known as Paediatric Measures) - all 90 of them! Please keep an eye on your APCP emails for their release date.
There is more for PPIPS to do, and the new team have projects ahead of them including contributing to ITPP, sourcing seminars for Kidz to Adultz for 2023 and a networking / study day for IPs that can run at least once each year. If you want to register your interest in paediatric safeguarding or paediatric manual handling, please do so here. Once we have enough interested parties we can organise a date with our excellent tutors.
I never knew that being part of an APCP committee could be so rewarding and suggest you give it a go (regional or special committees) regardless of your area of employment and wherever you are in your career. And enjoy making new friends along the way….
Wiz Chilton, PPIPS
Developing Disability Sport in North Devon;
I have always been keen on sport and decided to combine my two loves, Physiotherapy and Exercise. I spend my days working with Children who want to learn to move so that they can play which is ultimately their vocation in life. Movement gives freedom, opportunity and independence so why not capitalise on the need to move by combining sport, therapy and exercise, sharing my passion with those who traditionally would not be able to access sport. With support from a local business I established the Penguin Club for supportive hydrotherapy and also developed the North Devon Frame Running club.
Sport and movement has been an incredible motivation in creating these groups where children could meet together, have fun and gain therapeutic benefit from exercise. ‘The Penguin Sports Foundation’ was formed In October 2023. Following a lot of paperwork I submitted our application to the charities commission to register “The Penguin Sports Foundation” as a charity to fund sport and rehab opportunities for children with disabilities in North Devon. We are currently awaiting our approval!
As the charity grows, we plan to increase the number of sports and physical activities to be provided for children and young adults living in North Devon with disabilities. With this, we hope to open doors for many more children to access fun therapeutic play in new and exciting ways, developing a positive relationship with sport.
Gemma Rous, PPIPS
One of the challenges when working in India!
Heather’s professional pathway has taken a few turns after retiring in 2015. Among other things, she now teaches Appropriate Paperbased Technology (APT) in low and middle income countries. This helps therapists and carers provide postural seating and standing frames for children with disabilities. Children who would otherwise be lying on the floor.
A recent course in India held a surprise one day. When Heather returned to the workshop one morning she discovered that a rat had decided to burrow into the structure of the specialist seat under construction. Presumably attracted by the wet newspaper and flour based paste, this situation added a completely new dimension to the work and required a rat chase by the course participants before continuing with the course!
Here is the seat, repaired, covered with foam and almost finished!
If the rats haven’t put you off…. see www.recycleforrehab.co.uk
Heather Angilley, PPIPS
Teaching on undergraduate course:
In November, Children in Motion was invited to teach on the undergraduate physiotherapy course at Northumbria
University. We delivered a morning and afternoon session to 3rd year students on the clinical reasoning module. We had 3 hours to deliver a lecture covering an overview of what informs clinical reasoning in paediatrics, how the subjective and objective may be different to what they may have come across before on placements in other areas of physio with the adult population and introducing some treatment ideas.
We then split into three groups to work through case studies using the ICF model, to look at how they would consider this when working with children and their families. We also got them to share ideas of treatment and got them to think about the use of toys and play depending on the age of the child/young person. This generated a lot of interesting discussions, and everyone got involved.
It was a privilege to be asked to share our knowledge and introduce this area of physiotherapy to students considering options for their future careers. Following the lecture, we have had interest from some of the students in joining us for clinical placements next year.
A really successful and enjoyable day in the North East!
Sophie Brazier, PPIPS