| Description |
This intermediate-advanced course will focus on the cardiopulmonary implications for the premature or medically fragile infant as related to their transition from inpatient hospitalization (NICU, PICU) to an outpatient rehabilitation level of care. The course will focus on congenital cardiac conditions, medical/surgical management, and outpatient rehabilitation interventions to maximize the infants developmental and feeding skills. Discussion regarding primary heart repair and staged palliative surgical interventions with treatment considerations for each care plan. Clinical assessment and treatment skills will be presented that will assess the infant’s
physiological stability, evolving motor control, sensory stability, and transition to oral motor skills that support feeding. This outpatient-focused course will advance the critical reasoning skills of the pediatric therapist to support the infant’s ability to obtain foundational motor and sensory skills. These skills include the ability of the infant to cough, produce audible phonation,
oral motor skills, swallow skills, trunk facilitation, gestational age-appropriate
positioning/handling to support the emergence of gross motor skills for postural stability. Learn movement analysis skills (via lab time and video presentations) to assess breathing patterns, facilitation techniques to support trunk development, positioning strategies to support maximal cardiac perfusion, and feeding techniques to optimize weight gain with energy
conservation considerations. We will discuss current literature as relevant to this topic and apply a systems theory approach for case study treatment planning
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