APTA Clinical Practice Guideline for Physical Therapist Management of Parkinson Disease

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with adults living with Parkinson disease in outpatient, inpatient, home health, or community settings, and rehabilitation staff who want a concise account of what the APTA guideline reports.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants; also useful for rehabilitation managers, neurologists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists who share care of people with Parkinson disease.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course is based entirely on the American Physical Therapy Association clinical practice guideline on physical therapist management of Parkinson disease, developed by an APTA volunteer guideline development group made up of physical therapists and a neurologist, with methodological support from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Evidence-Based Medicine Unit. The guideline drew on a systematic review of randomized controlled trials published between January 1, 1994 and June 16, 2020, and issued eleven intervention recommendations plus two best-practice statements. No claim in this course goes beyond that document.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Name the interventions the APTA Parkinson disease guideline supports with a strong recommendation and those it supports only weakly.
2. Describe the population the guideline addresses and the disease stages to which the recommendations may not generalize.
3. State what the guideline development group concluded about optimal dosing, sustaining gains, and the areas it flagged for future research.

1. Start Here: how this course works and what it covers
2. Podcast: The APTA Parkinson Disease Guideline in Brief (about nine minutes)
3. Who the Guideline Covers and What It Set Out to Answer
4. How the Guideline Development Group Built the Recommendations
5. The Eleven Intervention Recommendations and What Supports Them
6. Where the Evidence Runs Thin: Limits, Exclusions, and Open Questions
7. Carrying the Guideline Into Everyday Practice
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-test and course evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course is based entirely on the American Physical Therapy Association clinical practice guideline on physical therapist management of Parkinson disease, developed by an APTA volunteer guideline development group made up of physical therapists and a neurologist, with methodological support from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Evidence-Based Medicine Unit. The guideline drew on a systematic review of randomized controlled trials published between January 1, 1994 and June 16, 2020, and issued eleven intervention recommendations plus two best-practice statements. No claim in this course goes beyond that document.