World Physiotherapy Network for Amputee Rehabilitation Project

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Description[edit | edit source]

The World Physiotherapy Network for Amputee Rehabilitation (AR) is a Professional Network of World Physiotherapy. It is pleased to present this project that contributes to development of the Amputee section in Physiopedia and the which will be used for the Amputee Rehabilitation MOOC (free open online course) in 2015. 

We intend to populate the site with practical, credible and thought-provoking information on all aspects of management of individual with limb deficiency including amputation. Much of this project is guided by curriculum for the future Amputee Rehabilitation MOOC that will be run by Physiopedia in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)  in 2015.  The structure is based on the Amputee Rehabilitation Guidance for the Education of Pre Registration Physiotherapy Students (2013) from BACPAR and the Prosthetic Gait Analysis Manual for Physiotherapists (2014) from the International Comitte of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Anyone is welcome to join in this project. You will be joining people from all over the world in contributing evidence based articles to create an evidence based reference on limb deficiency and amputee management.  In return for your efforts you will receive a certificate of completion to help you evidence your learning through your involvement with this project.

Project Team[edit | edit source]

Project Lead[edit | edit source]

Rachael Lowe

Contributors[edit | edit source]

  • Judy Scopes
  • Maria Abela
  • Lucy Coughlan
  • Greg Halford
  • Caroline Cater
  • Julia Earle
  • Rachael Walton-Mouw
  • Lauren Newcombe
  • Liezel Wegner
  • Sarah Evans
  • Alex Coelho
  • Duarte Pereira
  • Abby Cain
  • Mary Jane Cole
  • Joy Rendell
  • Peter Le Feuvre
  • Lim Teong Eu
  • Iz'zah Syahira Bt Salmey
  • Tilakh Bahadur


Project Dates[edit | edit source]

December 2014 - May 2015

We are currently in the process of reviewing the submitted contributions of content.

Introduction[edit | edit source]

As a participant in this project you will contribute to the creation (or update an existing) page within Physiopedia.  You may choose to take part in this project as a personal contribution to your own professional development and/or you may wish to contribute evidence based information to develop this resource for our profession.  Your contribution will be reviewed by Physiopedia and once complete recognised by the award of a certificate of completion.

If you would like to take part in this project please follow the instructions below. 

If you have any questions, please do email us.

Instructions[edit | edit source]

  1. Choose an article from the list below that you would like to develop.  Be sure that the article doesn't already have a name next to it.  
  2. At this point you should email the project co-ordinator to let them know that you would like to join the project and which page you would like to work on.  Please feel free also to ask any questions that you have in relation to this project e.g. if you feel a new page needs adding to the list.
  3. You will receive an email from Rachael (the project co-ordinator) to confirm you participation in the project and also to confirm the page that you will develop.
  4. Once you have received this confirmation you are free to get on with working on your page.  You should be complete your work in a word (or similar) document See example .  If you are comfortable working in Physiopedia we are very happy for you to work directly in Physiopedia instead of producing a word document. (See content criteria below).
  5. If you would like a certificate to evidence your contribution - we would like you to think about your own personal learning outcomes as a result of taking part in this project.  These learning outcomes will be printed on your certificate.
  6. Once you have completed your article and (if you wish to have a certificate) listed your learning outcomes please email them to project co-ordinator.
  7. Your article will be reviewed by the project team and you will be emailed a response of approval or of amendments to be made.
  8. Once the article has been finally approved, it will be published and you will receive your certificate of completion.

If you have any questions please do email us.

Content criteria:
  • Evidence based (where appropriate and possible)
  • Referenced
  • Include images and videos
  • Include a list of open online resources that we can link to

Example content:

Tips[edit | edit source]

Physiopedia is an online resource that provides evidence based, critically reviewed information for Physiotherapists across the world. It is a collaboratively developed project that is contributed to by physiotherapists all over the world.  The project has standards of writing that articles must adhere to in order to be published. As a collaborative activity, please do not feel dis-heartened if others make suggests or contributions to your articles over time, it helps maintain relevance and shares learning, it is not a criticism of you personally.

With all this in mind here are 4 pieces of advice that we hope will give you some confidence about creating a Physiopedia article that will be valuable to physiotherapists all over the world!

  1. Look around Physiopedia and work out what articles/pages you like and are more/less likely to engage with. Think about why this is. Is it about the title, the first sentence, layout, use of pictures/videos/presentations or something else?
  2. Be mindful to reference your work and use quotation marks when appropriate. Plagerism is not good academic practice. 
  3. The article should be, wherever possible factual, not a piece to direct readers into one conclusion or another. Therefore adopt a neutral tone and voice and present other peoples arguments/references/facts and figures from all perspectives, leaving the final decision to the reader.
  4. A word on word count. This is for you to determine as is most appropriate for your topic and approach. Ideally not a 500 word summary of a topic, but equally not a 3000 essay. Use hyperlinks to other related Physiopedia pages and information sources tactically to help manage your word count and avoid avoid long winded explanations and signpost readers to more information/background reading. Keep in your mind the situation readers are likely to be in when accessing your information - a quick reference point for sit down with a cuppa?  Aim to produce an article that critically introduces the key topics/ideas/themes relating to the article title. Use links and signposting to send interested readers to other sources and Physiopedia pages for more details....or, if you want to include a lot of detail about one sepcific element of your article, think about creating a seperate page for it and contact the Rachael with your idea. Consider your article to be somewhere a therapist wanting to get a crticial introduction to the topic might start their search.

Finally remember this project is about collaboration and harnessing of knowledge, so tap into your colleagues knowledge, skills - editing/proof reading, references and learn as you go together! Could make an interesting in-service training session, or team building exercise!

Articles[edit | edit source]

Please let us know if you think we should include anything else in this list!

  1. Pathology leading to amputation
  2. Principles of amputation
  3. Biomechanics in prosthetic rehabilitation
  4. Equipment for individuals with limb deficiency  (not yet complete)
  5. Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Management of the Amputee
  6. Assessment of the amputee
  7. Complications post amputation 
  8. Pre-Fitting Management of the Patient with a Lower Limb Amputation
  9. Prosthetics
  10. Post-fitting management of the amputee
  11. Gait in prosthetic rehabilitation
  12. Upper Limb Considerations
  13. Discharge management of the amputee (not yet complete)
  14. Emotional and psychological reactions to amputation  (not yet complete)
  15. Phantom limb pain
  16. Mirror Therapy 
  17. Paediatric limb deficiency 
  18. High level rehabilitation of amputees  
  19. Outcome Measures for Patients with Lower Limb Amputations
  20. Older people with amputations (not yet complete)
  21. The Diabetic Amputee
  22. Epidemiology of amputations in low resourced settings (not yet complete)