Acute neurological physiotherapy - essential skills for all practitioners - with Narelle Dalwood

My guest this week is Narelle Dalwood. Narelle is an APA titled neurological physiotherapist and physiotherapy educator from Monash University Physiotherapy. Narelle and I sat down to discuss her pathway into neurological physiotherapy and the foundational knowledge and skills of an acute neurological physiotherapist. Narelle has so much knowledge and experience, I’m sure you will love hearing from her.

This is a discussion aimed at health professionals. Always seek the guidance of a qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.

 In this episode:

• 0:00 About this episode – welcome Narelle
• 1:50 About Narelle – pathway into neurological physiotherapy
• 3:05 I didn’t want to be a neurological physiotherapist
• 5:20 Develop a wide variety of skills
• 7:35 Experience counts for a lot – let your experiences guide your interests
• 8:00 Be open to new and challenging experiences
• 10:45 How I knew I wanted to work in acute neuro
• 12:15 What skills are needed in acute neurological physiotherapy?  Empathy is important, but not too much
• 13:25 Teamwork and communication – acknowledgement of your team member’s skills
• 15:25 Know your anatomy
• 16:50 Don’t go in blind – anticipate impairments
• 19:05 Take your time to assess the person to their highest functional level
• 21:15 Narelle takes us through a typical acute neuro assessment
• 22:20 What if the patient’s communication is impaired? Receptive and expressive dysphasia, dysarthria, disorientation
• 25:15 There are no recipes – heterogeneity in neurological conditions
• 26:40 Non-motor impairments – confusion, memory deficits, neglect
• 28:40 What are the most important knowledge and skills for an acute neurological physiotherapist?
• 28:44 Your role as a physio is to allow people to live their most meaningful life possible
• 29:35 A beautiful story about the importance of goal setting
• 33:42 Like, share, subscribe – how you can help the podcast

Read more about Narelle: https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/narelle-dalwood

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Always seek the guidance of a qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.