This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Kenneth Miller about the role of physical therapy in healthy aging. Dr. Miller is a geriatric clinical specialist in physical therapy and Director of the Geriatric Physical Therapy Residency Program at MUSC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Geriatric physical therapists evaluate and treat older adults with health conditions and age related changes that impact function and physical health. Doctor Kenneth Miller is here to talk about the details. Doctor Miller is a geriatric clinical specialist in physical therapy, and he's director of the Geriatric PT Residency Program at MUSC. Doctor Miller, tell us more details about geriatric physical therapy.
Dr. Miller: Geriatric physical therapy is a specialization in physical therapist practice, where we work with older adults and the different medical conditions they may have. And, some may have many and also age related changes that occur and help devise a plan that is safe for them to do. (Also,) a plan that is fun for them to do and a plan that they are able to do on their own so that they can stay living independently for as long as possible in their home, and be as productive and have a higher quality of life.
Conner: And give us some examples of what sorts of conditions, what brings people to you for some help in this regard?
Dr. Miller: So, our specialization, we will work with anyone that's 60 years of age or older, whether they have one condition, no condition or many conditions. Some examples would be heart failure or other cardiopulmonary disorders. It could also be someone that has COPD or emphysema. People that may have had a stroke. People that may have had arthritis in their joints and may have some difficulty moving. So, we treat conditions all across the spectrum of all of the different systems in the body.
Conner: And tell us what really goes on when people come to you. What are some of the things that they're working on, and is it all physically related issues or other issues.
Dr. Miller: What we try to do is incorporate the five M's, which is mind, mobility, medications, and, then what matters most to the individual. And all of that comes together is multi complexity. So, a patient would come to us and sometimes they may be referred because they have had a fall. Sometimes it may be because they are afraid of falling or they've had imbalance. And we look at the five M's and we look and see if there may be depressed or if they have anxiety. And we work on that with physical therapy and the rest of the team. Mobility, if they have difficulty because of weakness or they have difficulty because of a balance problem, we'll work on those issues. And then we make sure the medications they're taking are not interfering with the ability to move.
Conner: And Doctor Miller is fear of falling common in older adults that you work with? And also, what do you do to help overcome that?
Dr. Miller: So, fear of falling is common in older adults. And sometimes it's related to someone that has had a fall and then they become fearful of another fall. Or, they may have heard of someone falling. And then that gives them a fear of falling, which is an anxiety response that limits them from moving. So, someone may become less physically active, which then leads to weakness, which then leads to actually increasing the risk of falling. How we address it is we work with the individual to help them improve their balance. We do physical activities to help improve their confidence and try to help overcome that fear that they may have. If the anxiety is really high, then we may make referrals to other types of mental health counselors that may be able to use cognitive behavioral therapy, and that may help reduce their fear of falling.
Conner: Doctor Miller, thanks for this information about geriatric physical therapy.
Dr. Miller: Thank you very much for having me.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
