Instructional Level: All

Prerequisites: Prior experience with pelvic health patients preferred but not required. 

CEU 7 contact hours of professional education. CEU approval with CA through Dec 15 , 2024 and NJ State through January 31, 2026.

Target Audience: Physical Therapists (PT) and PT Assistants, Occupational Therapists. Content is not intended for use outside the scope of the learner's state license or regulation.

Description:

This course is designed to expand your scope of treatment options for your postpartum and active clients. Often, symptoms of PFD are not caused exclusively by the pelvic floor muscles. A whole body approach is presented to identify key musculoskeletal or motor control issues contributing to the presenting symptoms. Kathe presents evidenced-based examination and treatment updates blended with clinical treatment pearls curated from over 32 years of experience with PFD. 

The course begins with a review of the current research on fitness measures, intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and PFD. You will gain an understanding of the multiple elements that need to be considered when teaching IAP awareness and management. Evidence informed ways to clinically monitor IAP with activity will be presented. 

Specifically, you will develop a clear understanding of diaphragm evaluation, the use of breath and voice as well as postural classifications to guide your treatment decisions and improve client performance.  

Different types of impairments of the pelvic floor as well as biomechanical and motor control issues outside the pelvic floor are addressed. 

Training in patient/client management will include developing a plan of care to improve the activity level of your clients. The topics are delivered with recorded lectures/videos, supported by downloadable PowerPoint and educational handouts, and packed with research and reference links. 

Objectives

Upon completion of the online self-paced learning curriculum the participant will be able to:

1. Identify three PFD risk factors in both high-performance athletes and postpartum women
2. Identify four elements that contribute to IAP generation.
3. Identify three components of dysfunctional breathing and name a screening technique for each. 
4. Appreciate three types of diaphragm muscle mobility assessment and describe the manual evaluation techniques for each.
5. Teach two postural modifications that could affect pelvic floor recruitment and IAP generation 
6. Appreciate the prevalence of abdominal wall adhesions and dysfunction in your PFD patient populations. 
7. Identify two myofascial and joint changes that could restrict PF function.
8. Describe or demonstrate three types of abdominal wall assessments for patients struggling with IAP management.
9. Teach three types of exhalation/voicing strategies that can be used with exercise and functional activities.
10. Differentiate IAP changes in running and weightlifting.
11. Differentiate treatment program design for overactive vs poor force production of the pelvic floor muscles in active clients with PFD.
12. Identify and teach two evidence-based techniques that could be used as proxy measures of IAP during incremental exercise
13. Teach walking and running drills/therapeutic exercises based on your evaluation findings.

Target Audience: Physical Therapists (PT) and PT Assistants, Occupational Therapists, and OT Assistants. Content is not intended for use outside the scope of the learner's state license or regulation.

Instructional Level: All. Prerequisites: Prior experience with pelvic health patients preferred but not required.

CEU 7 contact hours of professional education. (includes one hour of reading) California State CEU approval pending.

Description:

This course is designed to expand your scope of treatment options for your postpartum and active clients. Often, symptoms of PFD are not caused exclusively by the pelvic floor muscles. It introduces a whole-body approach to identify key musculoskeletal or motor control issues contributing to the presenting symptoms. Kathe presents evidenced-based examination and treatment updates blended with clinical treatment pearls curated from over 33 years of experience treating PFD.

The course begins with a review of the current research on fitness measures, intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and PFD. You will gain an understanding of the multiple elements that need to be considered when teaching IAP awareness and management. Evidence informed ways to clinically monitor IAP with activity will be presented.

Specifically, you will develop a clear understanding of a diaphragm evaluation, the use of breath and voice as well as postural classifications to guide your treatment decisions and improve client performance. 

Different types of impairments of the pelvic floor as well as biomechanical and motor control issues outside the pelvic floor are addressed.

Training in patient/client management will include developing a plan of care to improve the activity level of your clients. The topics are delivered with recorded lectures/videos, supported by downloadable PowerPoint and educational handouts, and packed with research and reference links.

Objectives:

Upon completion of the online learning curriculum the participant will be able to:

1.    Identify three PFD risk factors in both high-performance athletes and postpartum women

2.    Identify four elements that contribute to IAP generation.

3.    Identify three components of dysfunctional breathing and name a screening technique for each.

4.    Appreciate three types of diaphragm muscle mobility and describe the manual evaluation techniques for each.

5.    Identify and teach two postural modifications that could affect pelvic floor recruitment and IAP generation 

6.    Appreciate the prevalence of abdominal wall adhesions/ dysfunction in your PFD patient populations.

7.    Identify two myofascial and joint changes that could restrict PF function.

8.    Describe or demonstrate three types of abdominal wall assessments for patients struggling with IAP management.

9.    Teach three types of exhalation/voicing strategies that can be used with exercise and functional activities.

10. Differentiate IAP changes in running and weightlifting.

11. Differentiate treatment program design for overactive vs poor force production of the pelvic floor muscles in active clients with PFD.

12. Identify and teach two evidence-based techniques that could be used as proxy measures of IAP during incremental exercise

13. Teach walking and running drills/therapeutic exercises based on your evaluation findings.