COPD, Diabetes, Heart Failure, and Hypertension

Physical and occupational therapists often treat older patients with multiple chronic illnesses. In fact, 80% of adults over the age of 65 have multiple chronic conditions. This can be a difficult patient population to work with considering these patients see an average of 13 different physicians each year and have an average of 50 different prescriptions filled each year. Due to the complexity of this patient population, obtaining progressions through a therapy programcan be a very daunting task. Therapists often feel they are providing suboptimal therapeutic interventions due to the complexity of working with these patient populations. Additionally, caring for these patients is further complicated bythe potential adverse effects of being on multiplemedications. It can be very challenging to help guide these patients to achieve their greatest level of independence andto improve their quality of life.

During this one-day course, participants will be able to obtain comprehensive information on the pathophysiology of some frequently encountered chronic diseases and how they may affect a patient's ability to respond to therapy treatment. This course will evaluate the best techniques, including special tests to perform with these populations that will help guide therapy treatment. Also covered will be the most common medications that these groups of patients might be taking, medications that should be avoided in this population, and how to recognize possible adverse effects of these medications. Participants will discuss vital sign parametersand treatment precautions and how to use this information toguide your clinical decision making and when it is appropriate to continue therapy treatment or when therapy treatmentshould be held. Participants will also review the most common lab tests performed in the older adult population, how to interpret these lab values, and how the results of these tests can affect your patient's ability to progress during therapytreatments. After the completion of this course, participants will confidently use the best treatment strategies for populations with these chronic diagnoses.

Highlights

• Expand your understanding of the causes, symptoms, and pathophysiology of heart failure, COPD, DM, and hypertension and increase your confidence working with patients with one or more of these conditions
• Pharmacological considerations and how to recognize possible adverse side effects and interactions that could be impacting your patient's ability to maximize functional independence
• Create practical, effective evidence-based interventions for at-risk populations and how to safely progress these patients through a progressive therapy program designed to improve functional outcomes
• Safely progress patients with chronic illnesses using the best plan of care in order to manage and motivate your patients to achieve their maximum level of fitness
• Acquire specific information regarding lab values including normal ranges and how to recognize the effects an abnormal lab value may have on therapeutic interventions, and Hypertension

Target Audience: Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Athletic Trainers