ALI Grant Program Recent Recipients

Qing Zhang, PT, DPT

Rhonda Manning, PT, DPT

The Motor Madness program is a collaboration between the University of Texas at El Paso DPT program and Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the health of the medically underserved members of the El Paso community. The Motor Madness program provides 6-12 year old youth with developmental disorders of autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, developmental coordination disorder, and/or obesity the opportunity to participate in exercise classes that focus on developmental, gross, and fine motor needs. This project is a pilot for a longer-term program. Grant funding was budgeted to support the time of DPT students who will assist with the classes and to purchase exercise equipment and outcome testing supplies.

Mike Markee, PT, DPT, PhD

Pallavi Tyagi, PT, MHS

Cara Whalen Smith, PT, DPT, MPH, CHES

The purpose of this project was to conduct a qualitative study investigating the level of comfort and preparedness of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and physician trainees for working with patients with disabilities. The purpose of this research project was to 1) understand the disability-specific knowledge, attitudes, and skills to competently care for patients with disabilities among physical therapy, occupational therapy, and medical students and residents in Ohio health professional training programs and 2) develop recommendations for improvements to training programs to address the Core Competencies on Disability for Health Care Education based on student experiences and perspectives and perspectives with their level of comfort and preparedness to work with patients with disabilities. This research project used qualitative methods, including focus groups with physical therapy, occupational therapy, and medicine trainees.

Allison Butcher, PT, PhD; Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy

This project centered on understanding the relationship between social determinants of health, the social vulnerability index, and physical therapy outcomes. The specific aims were to establish the psychometric properties of a screening tool for social needs, examine how social vulnerability has historically impacted physical therapy results, and to identify what specific social factors (such as zip code, race, or payer source) acted as predictors for physical therapy outcomes. Findings from this study reported that the Health Leads Screening Tool (HLST) has excellent test-retest reliability and good concurrent validity in six of nine domains against the Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patient’s Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE). The social vulnerability index was found to be a significant predictor of success with physical therapy in patients with upper quarter diagnoses, and number of physical therapy visits was a significant predictor of outcomes regardless of diagnosis. Finally, social needs, baseline health, self-rated health, and the social vulnerability index were found to explain as much as 62% of patient outcomes when combined. This project was the first of its kind to quantify the impact that social needs have on physical therapy outcomes specifically and lays the groundwork for future research on how physical therapists can use social needs information to improve outcomes.

Rachel Prusynski, DPT, PhD; Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy

This APTA ALI research grant supported dissertation work for Dr. Prusynski’s PhD in Rehabilitation Science. This study was a secondary analysis of Medicare administrative data related to rehabilitation and health policy in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs). The dissertation consisted of three research questions related to financially motivated therapy, multiparticipant therapy, and changes in therapy staffing in SNFs. The ALI research grant supported data purchasing and dissemination costs, and Dr. Prusynski published four manuscripts related to this work.

Rupal Patel, PT, PhD

Rachel Tappan, PT, DPT; Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy

This project was an intervention development study that developed an intervention to improve physical activity and exercise adherence in people with chronic respiratory disease that aims to extend the effectiveness of the current model of pulmonary rehabilitation within the Medicare lifetime benefit. This project brought together physical therapist clinicians, health behavior change researchers, and people with chronic respiratory disease to co-develop an intervention that promotes shared decision making between clients and providers and incorporates current models of behavior change to promote healthy behaviors. Grant funding was used to support the time of the principal investigator and the intervention co-developers.

Celia Pechak, PT, PhD, MPH

Elizabeth Regan, PT, DPT, OCS; Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy

Janet Dolot, PT, DPT, DrPH, OCS; Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy

Margaret Danilovich, PT, DPT, PhD

Jason Falvey, PT, DPT, GCS; Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Geriatric Physical Therapy

Beth Black, PT, DSc