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HOP-UP-PTs! Home-based Prevention Care to Facilitate Safe Ageing in Place by Christopher Wilson PT, DPT, DScPT; Sara K Arena PT, DScPT; and Lori E Boright PT, DPT, DScPT Disclosure: Drs. Wilson and Arena are co-principals of HOP-UP-PT, LLC
A new treatment paradigm entitled Home-based Older Persons Upstreaming Prevention Physical Therapy (HOP-UP-PT) has been a multi-year research initiative that began at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. The initial inspiration was that municipal senior center staff members have a unique perspective and relationship with older adults in their community and could identify physical decline in older adults. The senior center staff voiced a need to be able to simply call up a local physical therapist (PT) in their community and have the PT go into the home and mitigate the various issues that might be causing the physical decline. After several research projects culminating in a 144-person randomized controlled trial demonstrating clinical effectiveness and feasibility, it was determined that the next step was to build the capacity to train PTs in this new treatment paradigm. As the approach is markedly different than that of impairmentdriven rehabilitative PT services, a company was established (HOP-UP-PT, LLC) to certify the therapists in the HOP-UP-PT protocol via a certification process and assist in building relationships between certified PTs and local community partners. Successful ageing through comprehensive assessment and treatment
Figure 1. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Key: ADL = activities of daily living
The relentless facilitation of successful ageing is a key aim for those who provide care to older adults. Defined GeriNotes • March 2022 • Vol. 29 No. 2
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