Volume II, Issue 3: Fall 2002

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~Chair Note~

On Tuesday, September 17^th,  the Long Beach/South Bay District hosted an informational and educational meeting.  Dr. Christopher Powers, PhD., PT, lectured to a packed house of greater than 150 Long Beach/South Bay members at Torrance Memorial Medical Center on his current research on the Patellofemoral Joint Rehabilitation.  The topic brought up some heated discussion on the multiple ways physical therapists treat patellofemoral joint dysfunction.  The emphasis of the lecture was finding out the source of the problem, deciphering whether the origin of the dysfunction is from the ITB, foot and ankle, or the hip.  There was also an introduction to DYNAMIC  MRI’s and how that could potentially change the way research is done and how we practice.  

                These meetings are a great venue to network and meet other therapists to learn what other people’s lives are like who work in the same field.  Also, it is a great source of FREE continuing education.  I encourage students, members and interested non-members to attend our next meeting on November 12^th,  6:30 PM at Long Beach Memorial, where Debbie Struiksma will be speaking on the Evaluation and Treatment of Vestibular Dysfunctions, a topic that many of struggle with at one time or another with our patients.  There will be food, prizes for the raffle and general information as well.  I hope to see you all there!

-Erik Barnett

Chair, Long Beach/South Bay District

A.  At the 2002 Spring Assembly, the Board was charged with developing a proposal for decreasing Assembly meetings from 2x/year to once a year.  Proposal submitted to 2002 Fall Assembly:  eliminate 2003 Fall Assembly, 2003 Spring Assembly will include a slate of candidates for chapter elections and time for Delegate caucus, 2004 Assembly Chapter Annual Conference and Assembly will take place in the Spring, and no proposal for 2005 at this time.

B.  Summary of Assembly motions/actions:

1)  3 motions were proposed to allow physical therapist assistants to be eligible to run as candidates on the Chapter Board, Nominating Committee, or be appointed to a chapter committee.  Results:  AR3 - FAILED TO BE ADOPTED, AR4 - WITHDRAWN, AR5 - NOT IN ORDER.

2)  Chapter dues for a Retired member to be $120 - PASSED

3)  Ratification of a Chapter Vision Statement - REFERRED BACK TO THE BOARD FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.

4)  Dissolve CA Student SIG and CA Management SIG - PASSED

C.  Review of CPTA Goals and 2003 Initiatives:

1)  Increase membership such that the majority of eligible PT's and PTA's in CA are members of the CPTA.

2)  Increase public recognition of PT's as experts in human movement, physical performance, wellness, and rehabilitation.

3)  Secure the right for PT's to be paid for all services within their legal scope of practice.

4)  Accomplish the legislative and regulatory agenda with the primary focus of direct access, mandatory continuing education, and the model practice act.

5)  Meet at least 40% of operating expenses by revenue sources other than membership dues.

6)  Further enhance the quality of physical therapist practice in the state of CA.

Highlights from Practice and Legislative Forums at Chapter Annual Conference:

1)  The Quality Practice Committee has drafted a proposal for a voluntary program to promote quality practice.  Collection of feedback about this proposal is in process, further development to come.

2)  CPTA plans to introduce legislation in 2003 to update the Practice Act to be consistent with the Model Practice Act.

3)  In 2003, CPTA plans to address continuing education requirements for licensure.

4) Upcoming issues to be addressed by the PT Board:  clarification of the term "Doctor" when addressing a qualified physical therapist, clarification of patient documentation, and PTA's will be considered "licensed" rather than "approved".

Named after one of physical therapy’s pioneers and a Long Beach South Bay APTA District member, The Margaret Rood Award of recognition was first given to Ms. Rood in1984 in honor of her significant contribution to the science and profession of physical therapy.  It has since been given to other members of our district who have contributed to, not only to the Long Beach – South Bay District, but the APTA and the profession of physical therapy.  As the Long Beach-South Bay District prepares to honor another member of the District with the Margaret Rood Award of Recognition, we reflect back on the lives and careers of some of the past recipients of this award.

Margaret Rood was both a PT and an OT and chaired both of those departments at the University of Southern California in the 1950’s and early 60’s.  She is the developer of a neurorehabilitation technique that was later taught as “the Rood technique” in PT and OT programs across the country.  Her contemporaries were Margaret “Maggie” Knott and Dorothy Voss, the developers of the proprioceptive neurofacilitation techniques (PNF).  Other pioneers in the field of physical therapy were Signe Brunnstrom and the Bobaths, who were earlier colleagues of Ms. Rood’s

Ms. Rood, who lived to be in her mid-80’s, had lived in Torrance and is remembered fondly by many of the earlier recipients of the Margaret Rood Award.  Some of these Long Beach-South Bay District members are former students of Ms. Rood and later her protégés who carried on her work by forming a “Rood study group”.

                A.J. Nielson, PT received the award in 1985.  He was a student of Ms. Rood’s at USC in the 1950’s where he had returned to graduate school. While working on his MA in PT, Mr. Nielson was director of rehabilitation at St. Mary Hospital (now Medical Center) of Long Beach.  He reports that Margaret Rood had a “quite a following” of those who studied her neurofacilitation and neuroinhibition techniques, and that those closest to her often called her “Roody.”  Mr. Neilson was an active member of the “Rood Study group” even after Ms. Rood’s death in 1984.  In 1988 he retired from the faculty of the CSULB, Physical Therapy department (where he had taught 1968-1988) .  Currently Mr. Nielson and his wife, Pricilla Nielson (also a PT) still live in Long Beach and are active in their church.  They have a daughter who is also a physical therapist.  Mr. Neilson, who is a long time advocate of exercise as “the key to life”, continues to walk regularly and up until last year was still running regularly. 

                Carole Sussman, PT received the Margaret Rood in 1990.  She was also a student and later a close friend of Margaret Rood’s and upon Ms. Rood’s passing, inherited her entire library.  Ms. Sussman owned Sussman Physical Therapy based out of Sunnyside Nursing Center in Torrance for many years.  Although she no longer has as much contact with patient’s since selling her business at Sunnyside, she is still an active lecturer and writer.  She has written a textbook Woundcare: a Collaborative Practice Manual for Physical Therapists and Nurses published by Aspen, and a patient education manual entitled Woundcare: Patient Education and Resource Manual published by ProEd, Inc.  Ms. Sussman recalls that Margaret Rood was using evidence-based practice before anyone ever called it EBP!  “She really expected us to know the literature backward and forwards.”  Ms. Sussman states that during the time when Margaret Rood was developing her techniques there were not a lot of human trials published, so much of the Rood technique was based on animal models and what was already known about muscle and neurophysiology. 

          This column will be dedicated to highlighting the careers of those Long Beach-South Bay District members who have received the Margaret Rood Award in the past with the hope of preserving a little of the District’s history and inspiring new members toward dedication and service to the profession of physical therapy, the APTA and their local community.

The Hooked on Evidence project has finally progressed to the stage of recruiting volunteers to begin reviews of the literature.  All volunteer groups are searching for articles to assess the effectiveness of a physical therapy intervention on a given diagnosis (i.e. lumbar stabilization exercise to decrease pain in patients with lumbar HNP, NDT to increase trunk stability post CVA, etc.).  The APTA has hired a full-time librarian to help groups with their searches.  After an exhaustive review of the literature has been conducted and entered into a structured online abstract form, an expert panel will be convened to determine if there is evidence in the literature to support the intervention and these decisions will be disseminated to the practitioners. 
                Chris Powers, with the help of local representatives, is coordinating volunteer groups from California with the national APTA to ensure that there is no redundancy in the topics that groups are selecting.  Please go to www.ccapta.org or contact Mike Bennett at [email protected] for more information about the project and about joining core research groups to participate.

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Welcome to our newest members! Minerva Garcia Abad, Marcelino Ruiz,

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