APTA's Guide to Physical Therapist Practice is now online — no software to buy, no disk to install, no updates to download. Now you can access the entire contents of the former CD Interactive Guide to Physical Therapist Practice With Catalog of Tests and Measures on the Web.
The online Guide is free to APTA members. Nonmembers can access the Guide by annual site license subscription or via a 24-hour individual access pass.
Guide Revisions: Member Comment Period
APTA's Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, 2nd Edition (Guide2) has been undergoing an extensive review and revision process. The revised chapters of the third edition of the Guide (Guide3) are being made available on the online Guide website from April 24 through July 1, 2013, for member comment. Members are invited to review the revised chapters and provide feedback via survey.
How to Give Input on Guide3
Guide3 is in its final stages, but APTA needs member input.
Step 1: Review a summary of the major differences between Guide2 and Guide3.
Step 2: Review the chapters in Guide3:
Step 3: Complete the online survey. To do so, log in with your member number and e-mail. Submit the survey by Monday, July 1, 2013.
Survey Tips: After reviewing the chapters, completing the survey can take approximately 45 minutes.
The responses on each page of the survey are saved when you move to the next page, so always click "Next Page" before you close a partially completed survey. When you log back in to a partially completed survey, it should take you to where you left off. Once you hit "Submit Survey" at the end, you won't be able to reaccess your survey responses. Be sure that you don't hit "Submit Survey" until you're completely finished. If you try to log back in after hitting "Submit Survey" it will take you to a new, blank survey.
Why Revise the Guide?
From its inception in 1992, the Guide was intended by APTA to be an organic document that would be revised over time to reflect the evolution of physical therapist practice. The last revision took place in 2003. The current revision reflects the following developments:
- In 2008, APTA's House of Delegates endorsed the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The endorsement stated that "ICF language shall be incorporated into all relevant association publications, documents, and communications through existing planned review and revision cycles."
- The Catalog of Tests and Measures is outdated. With the launch of APTA's clinician website, PTNow.org, and with the work of EDGE (Evaluation Database to Guide Effectiveness) taskforces and other groups, core sets of tests and measures are being developed and vetted for use by clinicians at point of care, replacing the Catalog.
- Repetition that was embedded in the first and second editions of the Guide to emphasize new concepts is no longer needed.
What Has Been Revised?
The opening, foundational chapters of the Guide have been reorganized in Guide3 to include the following:
Chapter 1: What Are the Concepts Underlying Patient/Client Management?
Chapter 2: How Are Physical Therapist Evaluations Performed, and What Tests and Measures Do Physical Therapists Use?
Chapter 3: What Types Of Interventions Do Physical Therapists Provide?
Chapter 4: How Do Physical Therapists Use Outcome Measures To Measure Outcome Status?
These chapters correspond to "What Is Physical Therapy?" "On What Concepts Is the Guide Based?" "Who Are Physical Therapists,and What Do They Do?" "What Types of Tests and Measures Do Physical Therapists Use?" and "What Types of Interventions Do Physical Therapists Provide?" in Guide2. They correspond to "Understanding Physical Therapist Practice," "About Physical Therapists," "Basics of Patient/Client Management," "Tests & Measures," and "Interventions" in the online version of Guide2.
View the timeline for revision of the entire Guide.
Guide3 both adds new concepts and gives more focus to some of the concepts from Guide2:
- Biopsychosocial
- Evidence-based practice
- Quality assessment
- Professional values
- Collaboration
- Outcomes
Other changes include:
If you have any questions, contact Lisa L Culver, PT, DPT, MBA, senior specialist, clinical practice, department of practice and research, at lisaculver@apta.org or 800/999-2782, ext 3172.
Print Edition
Buy the Guide in APTA's Online Store.