Award Date

Spring 5-14-2021

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)

Department

Physical Therapy

Advisor 1

Cassy Turner, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS

First Committee Member

Daniel Young, Ph.D

Second Committee Member

Merrill Landers, Ph.D

Number of Pages

46

Abstract

Dance students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) do not have access to sports medicine specialists, thus a pro-bono dance clinic was created as a service-learning project by the UNLV Department of Physical Therapy (UNLVPT) in 2018. In the second year of the service-learning project, three graduate students from the UNLVPT program, under the supervision of a clinical faculty member, have continued to provide free dance specific injury prevention screenings and management to students within the UNLV Department of Dance. To improve clinic operation and services, the group emphasized communication and accessibility as areas of growth. Injury prevention screenings consisted of analysis of dance specific movements, joint integrity, cardiovascular performance, lower body strength, and an eating attitudes survey. Additionally, dance students could schedule for a comprehensive physical therapy examination and subsequent treatment sessions for any acute or chronic injury. Treatment interventions included manual therapy and therapeutic exercise. Emphasis was placed on patient education for injury prevention. Dancers were also provided home exercise programs specific to the objective findings during examination. From the Fall 2019 to Spring 2020 semester, 3 screenings, 7 initial evaluations and 8 treatment sessions were completed. Due to COVID-19, the dance clinic ceased its in-person services and thus the project pivoted to provide educational resources for the dancers. Despite challenges from COVID-19, the clinic provided an opportunity for dance students to be exposed to dance specific orthopedic conditions and screenings, as well as demonstrate the ability for the service-learning project to grow from previous cohorts to continue providing a needed and valuable service to an underserved population at UNLV.

Keywords

Dancer screening; Dance injury; Injury prevention; Service learning; Fine arts; Health wellness; Sports medicine

Disciplines

Physical Therapy

File Format

pdf

File Size

759 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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