Caring for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Teambased Approach - Softcover

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9781557663221: Caring for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Teambased Approach

Softcover

ISBN 10: 155766322X ISBN 13: 9781557663221

Publisher: Paul H Brookes Pub Co, 1998

An interdisciplinary reference for team-based, collaborative care of children with cerebral palsy. Twenty-one chapters detail information on diagnosis, management of impairments, optimizing function and preventing disability, and preventing handicap by creating opportunities. They address family, school, and community roles as well as law and public policy. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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About the Author:

John P. Dormans, M.D. is Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He holds The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Endowed Chair in Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery and is Research Associate of the Stokes Research Institute at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Dormans is Co-director of the Cerebral palsy Program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Children's Seashore House, a regional children's hospital for specialized care and rehabilitation of children.

Dr. Dormans did a pediatric orthopedic fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and during that time spent time at the Hugh MacMillan Rehabilitation Center in Toronta.Dr. Dormans has been at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine since 1990 and has been the recipient of both the Jesse T. Nicholson Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching and also the Dean's Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1995. He is also the Co-director of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Fellowship at The Children's hospital of Philadelphia. He was a Kashawegi Suzuki traveling fellow to Japan in 1993.

Dr. Dormans has published more than 70 articles and has authored more than 25 chapters in various contributed books. Dr. Dormans is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, the Scoliosis Research Society, and the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine.

Dr. Dormans has a strong interest in orthopedic care of children in developing countries. He is chairman of the International Affairs Committee for the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and also serves on the International Affairs Committee of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He has worked in various countries, including Ethiopia, Bulgaria, and Indonesia and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Orthopaedics Overseas and as Program Director for the Indonesian Program through Orthopaedic Overseas. He serves as an advisory editor to Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Foreword

Cerebral palsy is defined as a disorder of movement and posture that is a result of a nonprogressive abnormality of the immature brain. However, this definition hides the complexity of the disorder and its tendency to change over time. Furthermore, despite advances in modern medicine, there is little evidence that the prevalence of this disorder is decreasing. Thus, the needs for care of children with cerebral palsy are likely to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.

It was recognized many years ago that the complexity of cerebral palsy warranted a team approach to care. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau provided financial resources to support "Crippled Children's Services" that included multidisciplinary clinics for children with cerebral palsy. One such clinic was set up at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Children's Seashore House. Since its inception, this idea of a team approach has evolved into the program that forms the basis of this book. A mission of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Children's Seashore House has been to identify children with cerebral palsy early, provide comprehensive evaluations, promote community interventions, and provide long-term follow-up services.

In Caring for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Team Approach, the team members of the cerebral palsy program--pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, physical and occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, educators, and administrators--have combined forces to become a team of authors. In this new resource, they describe the collaborative approach they use to provide care for children with cerebral palsy. In reading this book, you gain detailed information on the diagnosis, treatment, and support of children with cerebral palsy, within the context of team-based caregiving. This book is useful for physicians, occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, speech-language pathologists, and educators, as well as for social workers, home visitors, and family members.

Caring for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Team Approach is divided into four sections. The first provides an introduction to cerebral palsy and emphasizes the importance of an interdisciplinary team approach. Definitions, etiology, epidemiology, and diagnostic criteria are discussed. The basics of interdisciplinary and well-child care are also covered. In the second section, the management of associated deficits, including spasticity, other musculoskeletal impairments, and feeding disorders, is explained. Within this section, orthopedic and neurosurgical interventions are emphasized. The third section discusses optimizing function and preventing disability. Mobility, daily living skills, communication, and orthotics are described in detail. The final section of the book addresses opportunities for children with cerebral palsy. The importance of family, school, advocacy, and transitions is discussed. Together, these chapters provide guideposts of care from diagnosis in infancy to entry into adulthood.

In these days of change in health care delivery, it is the children who are most likely to be at a disadvantage. Individuals with cerebral palsy fall into this group. It must be our role as health care professionals, teachers, and family members to advocate for the needs of the children we care for and love. This can most effectively be accomplished by providing a care management plan that is clear and effective. Caring for Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Team Approach provides the background you need to develop such an individual care plan. It helps you advocate for a level of services appropriate for your child or patient's need.

You might as well ask, "What is the use of a book on a team approach to caring for children with cerebral palsy in the new managed care environment?" If one takes the optimistic view, managed care, with an emphasis on prophylaxis and care management, should be supportive of a team approach. The early identification of complications of cerebral palsy, such as contractures, may lead to interventions that delay or prevent surgeries or hospitalizations. Improved nutrition is likely to lead to fewer significant illnesses, and support of the family is likely to help maintain an intact family with all of the related financial and emotional benefits. In addition, managed care will demand that we show benefit from our interventions; interdisciplinary teams should be most able to develop outcomes reseearch that will help guide cost-effective care in the future.

Thus, I am hopeful that many of you will continue to be part of the team structures in caring for children with cerebral palsy. However, this book is also meant for those of you who will have to be an interdisciplinary team by yourself and for others of you who will need to decide whether referral to a cerebral palsy clinic is warranted. It is hoped that this volume provides each of you with the information you need to deliver optimum and efficient care to these wonderful children. I wish you well and thank you for toiling in these fields; by working together, we will continue to provide effective care for our children with cerebral palsy.

Mark L. Batshaw, M.D.

"Fight for Children" Chair of Academic
Medicine
Chief Academic Officer
Director, Children's Research Institute
Children's National Medical Center

Chair, Department of Pediatrics
George Washington University
School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Washington, D.C.

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