Issue 15: May 2010.

College of Occupational Therapists 34th Annual Conferences and Exhibition
22-25 June 2010, Brighton Centre, Brighton, Sussex.
Three conferences for the price of oneIncluding two Specialist Sections’ Annual Conferences: HIV/AIDS, Oncology, Palliative Care and Older People.

Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Congress 2010.
15th – 16th October at The BT Convention Centre, Liverpool.

UK Stroke Forum Conference: Submit your abstracts
The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists are encouraging their members to showcase their research at this year’s UK Stroke Forum conference? The call for abstracts has opened and closes on 18 June.Abstracts are welcomed on all aspects of stroke research, including innovative service delivery and ongoing treatment trials. Applications may be submitted for both oral and poster presentations.

Radiography reporting is safe and must continue, asserts SCoR:
In its publication Medical image interpretation by radiographers: Guidance for radiologists and healthcare providers, the RCR states that cost-effectiveness and safety of radiography reporting remains unproven outside the area of breast screening.
The SCoR has described the RCR’s advice as “disappointing” and has responded with its own document – Medical Image Interpretation by Radiographers: Definitive Guidance. In the foreword, the President of the SCoR, Gill Dolbear, states: “We are publishing this definitive guidance to provide assurance that radiographer reporting is safe, subject to reporting radiographers and their employers/contractors adhering to our guidance.

BDA Paediatric Group Position Statement: Weaning infants onto solid foods
Revised and issued in April 2010.

OTs urged to prepare for collecting data on referral to treatment times
OTs working for NHS England should be aware that collecting data on ‘referral to treatment times’ (RTT) will be mandatory from 1 April 2011. OTs are urged to prepare for RTT data collection as soon as possible, and to start collecting data in advance of the deadline.

Back schools for non-specific low-back pain.
An intervention review to assess the effectiveness of back schools for patients with non-specific LBP.
Heymans MW, van Tulder MW, Esmail R, Bombardier C, Koes BW. Back schools for non-specific low-back pain.. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004, Issue 4. (edited and published 2010, Issue 3).

Manipulation or Mobilisation for Neck Pain
An intervention review to assess if manipulation or mobilisation improves pain, function/disability, patient satisfaction, quality of life, and global perceived effect in adults with acute/subacute/chronic neck pain with or without cervicogenic headache or radicular findings.
Gross A, Miller J, D'Sylva J, Burnie SJ, Goldsmith CH, Graham N, Haines T, Brønfort G, Hoving JL. Manipulation or Mobilisation for Neck Pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 1.

Striding out with Parkinson disease: evidence-based physical therapy for gait disorders.
Morris M.E., Martin C.L., Schenkman M.L.
Physical therapy, February 2010, vol./is. 90/2(280-288).
Although Parkinson disease (PD) is common throughout the world, the evidence for physical therapy interventions that enable long-term improvement in walking is still emerging. This article critiques the major physical therapy approaches related to gait rehabilitation in people with PD: compensatory strategies, motor skill learning, management of secondary sequelae, and education to optimize physical activity and reduce falls. The emphasis of this review is on gait specifically, although balance and falls are of direct importance to gait and are addressed in that context.
(Athens username required for full text access).

Speech and language therapy interventions for children with primary speech and language delay or disorder
An intervention review to examine the effectiveness of speech and language interventions for children with primary speech and language delay/disorder.
Law J, Garrett Z, Nye C. Speech and language therapy interventions for children with primary speech and language delay or disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2003, Issue 3. (Edited and issued in Issue 5, 2010).

Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke
An intervention review to assess the effectiveness of speech and language therapy (SLT) for aphasia following stroke.
Kelly H, Brady MC, Enderby P. Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 5.

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