Award Date

5-15-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)

Department

Physical Therapy

Advisor 1

Catherine Turner

First Committee Member

Merrill Landers

Second Committee Member

Daniel Young

Number of Pages

34

Abstract

Screenings are commonly employed in athletics to identify deficits in performance with the goal of providing interventions to decrease injury risk; however, their utilization is uncommon in collegiate dance programs. Therefore, the purpose of this service learning project was to address the needs of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) dance program through implementation of an injury screening and prevention clinic for collegiate-level dancers. Four second year Doctor of Physical Therapy students (SPTs) supervised by a clinical faculty member with dance medicine expertise researched, developed, and provided screenings to identify increased risk for dance-specific injuries, and education to decrease risk factors associated with dance-specific injuries. Program components included examination of motor control during dance specific movements, joint mobility, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, lower extremity strength, and eating habits. Dancers were also able to schedule pro-bono evaluations and treatments by SPTs with faculty supervision, either as a result of screening findings, or due to new onset dance-related injuries. All participating dancers were educated on the results of their screenings and provided additional individualized resources to improve deficits in performance. These included home education programs focusing on individual deficits, generalized cardiovascular and strengthening protocols to challenge fitness, and a one- time nutrition seminar created in collaboration with students earning their Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Sciences degree with an emphasis on dietetics. SPTs screened 14 dancers, and provided six evaluations with 11 treatments to dancers for pre-existing or new onset dance-induced injuries throughout the two semesters. This service- learning project demonstrated that implementing a clinic for collegiate dancers is possible and useful. Dancers were able to receive screenings to prevent injury, and received pro-bono care for orthopedic injuries. The implementation of this clinic also expanded physical therapy students' exposure to dance-specific injuries and improved their skills in screening development, along with providing opportunities for inter-professional collaboration.

Keywords

Physical Therapy; Collegiate Dance Clinic; Pre-Injury Screening; Pro-Bono Clinic; Service Learning Project; Dance Screening Protocol; Physical Therapy Underserved; University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Physical Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy

File Format

pdf

File Size

5.437 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS