Enhancing Access to Pediatric Rehabilitation Care in a Remote Northern Indigenous Community

As the vital partner for the profession, the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA) leads, advocates, and inspires excellence and innovation to promote health. CPA’s goal is to provide exceptional service, valuable information and connections to the profession of physiotherapy, across Canada and around the world.

The Global Health Division (GHD) is comprised of a passionate group of physical therapists who have worked in or are interested in working in resource-poor settings globally. We advocate for sustainable collaboration that elevates the profession of physiotherapy worldwide.

Our Vision is to become a strong advocate group for the role of physiotherapists in the area of global health. The GHD strives to become a reliable and valuable resource for its members, through providing access to research, policies, experiences of other members, and opportunities.The GHD aims to foster an understanding of how socioeconomic determinants of health underpin health inequities and how global work comprises responsible strategies to achieve health equity. The GHD strives to support its members to get involved in ethical, collaborative, sustainable and effective global health work. The GHD endeavours to promote the wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples through advocating for changes within the physiotherapy profession in the spirit of reconciliation.

The mission of the Global Health Division (GHD) is to advocate for the unique role that physiotherapists have in global health and to encourage Canadian physiotherapists to engage in ethical global health work.

The Paediatric Division is a special interest group within the Canadian Physiotherapy Association. Our membership consists of clinicians from all practice settings, students, educators, researchers, physiotherapy assistants and administrators all of whom have a passion for promoting participation and enhancing the lives of children and their families. We are dedicated to provide resources and information for paediatric patients and their families to promote participation and function independence in all aspects of life.

Paediatric physiotherapists employ clinical expertise in the early detection of health problems, treatment, education and management of congenital, developmental, neuromuscular, skeletal, cardiorespiratory or acquired disorders/diseases. Paediatric physiotherapists work with children of all ages, from infants through young adulthood to promote participation and functional independence. Paediatric physiotherapists have a unique role in that they not only work with the child, but also their families in the context of their daily home, school and recreational environment.

Paediatric physiotherapists use validated outcome measures to assess the level of strength, flexibility, gross-, and fine-motor coordination and overall functional capabilities to determine participation limitations or restrictions as a result of injury, disease or disability.

Through analysis of objective assessment findings, the paediatric physiotherapist uses evidence-based treatment interventions specifically tailored to the client and their family's goals. Treatment interventions focus on improving gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination, strength and endurance, as well as cognitive and sensory processing/integration.