DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Project Proposal

 

            For the public online forum, all areas of Physical and Occupational Therapy with emphasis on the upper extremity and thought from Certified Hand Therapists will be researched in order to create effective means of information for therapists to view and coordinate with one another so that the most productive means of rehabilitation may be applied to patients. Data from other websites similar to this will be researched as well in order to supply information on the effectiveness of the site itself and whether or not, if carried out, the forum would be successful. As anecdotal points, quotes from professionals on their opinions/thoughts of the online forum will be gathered to help prove or disprove the capability and success rate of a forum created in order to allow physical/occupational therapists to coordinate with one another online.

            Knowledge will be acquired through observation at Physiotherapy Associates under Nicole Bickhart, OT, CHT, Tracey Herzberger, OT, CHT, Anne Edmonds, PT, CHT, and Ron Spicer, PT, project coordinator. For the forum to run successfully knowledge from other physical and occupational therapists must also be acquired; however for this project this year knowledge as anecdotal points will be acquired from professionals employed at facilities within the area through quotes on thought and experience.

            The outcome of the years study will provide through observation the ability to apply knowledge of the anatomy of the body by discovering what the issue is based on common complaints from the patient in order to apply therapy to the hand and thus help the patient recover from specific injuries/problems. The year will prove the success rate of online coordination between professionals based on thoughts from therapists within the state of Maryland that will either prove or disprove the ability of an online forum created for physical and occupational therapists to provide more effective means of rehabilitation for specific cases.

            The need for an effective and time managing program for therapy will be addressed within the forum based on the injury. The real problem solved will be the attempt to create a source of communication between therapists in order to correlate and coordinate successful means of therapy to common cases seen in patients. The question as to what the most effective means of therapy is will be researched for each case if a forum such as the one described would be created and tested for success.

            The intended audience of the project is both the therapists and patients locally at first. If the forum was created and proved successful, therapists who use the site would benefit as they would learn what has worked for other professionals for common cases of injuries. Mostly however, patients involved in physical therapy would benefit immensely as therapists would be able to coordinate and put forth effective and time manageable programs. The result is intended to help therapists communicate in order to prescribe the most effective means of physical therapy to each patient. The effects will be determined this year by the data gathered from other successful sites along with quotes on opinion of the site from local professionals. If carried out in the future, effects would be determined by the amount of participation in the forum itself.

            The audience will at first be local as professionals from facilities around the area will become involved by thoughts and quotes this year however possibly intel based on experience in the future if the forum is ever created. If someone approves of the online site this year and grabs onto the idea enough to create it, as the popularity or successfulness increases, so will the range of the audience.

            The outcome will be communicated to the selected audience through the online forum within a section that shows the amount of participation in order to show how often their input is viewed. In the future, if the online forum is created, all who participate may view data that demonstrates the effectiveness of their personal intel along with comments on each of their entries.

            For now resources required for data of the project include human resources as therapy professionals for quotes on independent opinion and thought of the online site, along with data from existing websites to provide information on whether or not a site like this would be effective and successful. To create a forum a human source along with technological programs will be needed to take on the mechanical angle of the project. The media will also eventually be required as any popular site needs proper advertising to become more successful.

            This specific project will be difficult to carry out as it requires not only a complex program to create an online forum but also many human professionals willing to take time out of their day to coordinate with one another online the best means of therapy based on different cases without pay. Legal issues also coincide as anything involved in medical practice is serious and has the potential to cause problems. Therefore, for the project this year data will be gathered from professionals on their thoughts of such a forum to be used as anecdotal points in this year’s paper. With more time and resources the forum could have been carried out and tested thus the idea may be used in the future.

            The rough draft of the paper is due as midterm grade on January 21st with comments and a signature from mentor at mentorship site. The 6-10page paper with data received from other sites and professionals will be completed the weekend before and signed and commented by either Nicole Bickhart, Tracey Herzberger, or Anne Edmonds. Based on the deadline then quotes asked for from professionals via email will have been received the week prior so that they may be included in the paper as anecdotal points. All annotated bibliographies are also due midterm day and will be included within the rough draft of the paper, thus quotes and interviews from professionals stated within the paper will appear within the bibliography and then presented in class and on the digication website by the 21st of January. The final synthesis paper and virtual abstract are due during the third quarter and will mirror what is included within the rough draft however with edits.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.