ADVANCED TOPICS IN NEUROLOGICAL PHYSIOTHERAPY

PTY3001
TRIMESTER 1, AY 2018

This module profile may be subject to change during the trimester – the online version is the
authoritative version.

1. General Module Information

1.1 General Information

Credit Value: 5 credits

Pre-requisite(s): Nil

Co-requisite(s): Nil

Result type: Grade

Module Coordinator: Name: Assoc Prof Wee Seng Kwee

Phone: 98281449
Email: SengKwee.Wee@Singaporetech.edu.sg

Module Co-Coordinator: Name: Asst Prof Dawn Tan May Leng

Phone: 81252985
Email: Dawn.Tan@Singaporetech.edu.sg

Name: Assoc Prof Kwah Li Khim

Phone: 65928623
Email: LiKhim.Kwah@Singaporetech.edu.sg

1.2 Module Descriptor

This module progresses the knowledge and skills learnt from the Foundations of Neurological
Physiotherapy module (PTY 2009) and aims to equip learners with the necessary
competencies required for clinical placements in neurology settings. This includes providing
learners with the knowledge and understanding of traditional and current treatment
approaches, including advanced technology and their underlying principles and evidence,
advanced clinical reasoning skills and interactions within multidisciplinary settings involving
medical and non-medical professions. Additionally, this module prepares the learner to
communicate patient goals within multidisciplinary settings and advocate for patients’ rights and
the profession.

1.3 Module Changes in Response to Previous Feedback:

N/A

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1.4 Timetable

Contact hours:
Lecture: 1-2 x 2-4 hour session per week (for some weeks), and
Lab: 1-2 x 2-3 hour session per week (for some weeks), or
Others (e.g., industry visits): 1 x 3 hour session for one week

2. Learning Outcomes

After successfully completing this module, you should be able to:

1. Outline the pathophysiology, prognosis and general management of adult neurological

conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury,
Neuromuscular disorders and Vestibular conditions (e.g., Benign Paroxysmal Positional
Vertigo (BPPV) and Vestibular Neuronitis)
2. Use the ICF framework to organise and prioritise problems, and set patient-centered goals
for adults with neurological conditions
3. Design appropriate assessment and treatment plans for adult neurological conditions based
on clinical reasoning and research evidence
4. Conduct appropriate assessments for adult neurological conditions
5. Demonstrate appropriate treatment strategies for adult neurological conditions
6. Identify various neurological treatment approaches and discuss their underlying rationale
and evidence
7. Evaluate the use of equipment and technology such as body weight support, virtual reality
and robotics in the physiotherapy management of adult neurological conditions
8. Discuss cognitive training strategies in neurological rehabilitation.

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3. Learning Activities

Tentative schedule is listed below and it is subjected to change.

Lectures Labs Others*

Week Topics/Content
(hours) (hours) (hours)
1 Lecture: Parkinson’s disease - pathophysiology, 2 -
prognosis, problems and physiotherapy
Lab: Parkinson’s disease - physiotherapy assessment 3
and treatment
2 Lecture: Cerebellar ataxia - pathophysiology, 2 -
prognosis, problems and physiotherapy
Lab: Cerebellar ataxia - physiotherapy assessment 3
and treatment
3 (E-learning week) Lecture 1: Treatment approaches 1 - -
and evidence I (Bobath, Motor Relearning Program (Online)
and others)
(E-learning week) Lecture 2: Other treatment 2
approaches and evidence II (Body weight support, (Online)
virtual reality, robotics, constraint induced movement
therapy, trunk restraint, mirror therapy, sensory re-
education)
4 Lecture: Traumatic Brain Injury - pathophysiology, 2 -
prognosis, problems and physiotherapy
Lab: Traumatic Brain Injury - physiotherapy 3
assessment and treatment
Lab: Spasticity management across conditions - serial 3
casting of ankle and elbow
5 Lecture: Vestibular conditions - pathophysiology, 2 -
prognosis, problems and physiotherapy
Lab: Vestibular conditions - physiotherapy assessment 3
and treatment
6 Lab: Revision class for Viva exam 2
Others: Viva exam (30%) 30 mins
7 RECESS WEEK
- - -
8 TCD block teaching - - -

9 PROF GWEN JULL’s Teaching Week - -

3
TCD block teaching

Others: Visit to Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Centre for

Advanced Rehabilitation Therapeutics (CART):
3rd Nov 2018
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 10 TCD block teaching - - -

11 Lecture: Neuromuscular diseases - pathophysiology, 2 -

prognosis, problems and physiotherapy
Lab: Neuromuscular diseases - physiotherapy 2
assessment and treatment
Lecture: Spinal Cord Injury - pathophysiology, 2 -
12 prognosis, problems and physiotherapy
Lab: Spinal Cord Injury - physiotherapy assessment 3
and treatment
13 Lab: Revision class for practical exam - 3

Others: Practical exam (30%) 30 mins

14 Written Exam (40%) - - 2

15

Total (hours) 15 25 3
3†

*Others refer to practical exams and industry visits (outside of SIT campus).
†
Hours attributed to viva exam, practical exam and written exam

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4. Learning Resources

4.1 Required Resources

Carr J and Shepherd R (2010) Neurological Rehabilitation: Optimizing Motor Performance.
London, UK: Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier.

4.2 Recommended Resources

Hill K (2011) Clinical Outcome Measurement in Adult Neurological Physiotherapy. 4th edition.
Melbourne, Australia: Australian Physiotherapy Association.

Harvey L (2008) Management of Spinal Cord Injuries. A Guide for Physiotherapists. London,
UK: Churchill Livingstone, Elsevier.

Davis PM (1994) Starting Again: Early Rehabilitation after Traumatic Brain Injury or Other
Severe Brain Lesion. New York, US: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

4.3 Any Other Learning Resources

Outcome measures
Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy (2018) Academy of Neurologic PT Outcome Measures
Recommendations [Online]. Available at:
http://www.neuropt.org/professional-resources/neurology-section-outcome-measures-
recommendations [Accessed 14 June 2018]

Shirley Ryan Ability Lab (2018) Rehabilitation Measures Database [Online]. Available at:
https://www.sralab.org/rehabilitation-measures [Accessed 14 June 2018]

Stroke Rehabilitation
Heart and Stroke Foundation. Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery (2018) Evidence-
based review of Stroke rehabilitation [Online]. Available at: http://ebrsr.com/ [Accessed 14 June
2018]
Heart and Stroke Foundation. Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery (2018) Stroke Engine
[Online]. Available at: http://www.strokengine.ca [Accessed 14 June 2018]
Stroke Foundation - Australia (2018) InformMe – Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management
2017 [Online]. Available at: https://informme.org.au/Guidelines [Accessed 14 June 2018]
Brain Injury Rehabilitation
National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (2012) The Centre
for Outcome Measurement in Brain Injury (COMBI): Available at: http://www.tbims.org/combi/
[Accessed 14 June 2018]

ABIEBR (2018) Evidence-based Review of Moderate to Severe Acquired Brain Injury [Online].
Available at: http://www.abiebr.com/ [Accessed 14 June 2018]

Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation

elearnSCI.org (2018) elearn Spinal Cord injury: Physiotherapists [Online]. Available at:
http://www.elearnsci.org/intro.aspx?id=4&category=Physiotherapists [Accessed 14 June 2018]

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 SCIRE Project (2016) Spinal Cord Injury Research Evidence [Online]. Available at:
http://www.scireproject.com/about-scire [Accessed 14 June 2018]

5. Assessment

5.1 Assessment Summary

This is a summary of the assessment in the module. For detailed information on each assessment,
refer to XSite (https://xsite.singaporetech.edu.sg/) for details of assessment. Dates for
assessments are subjected to minor amendment and early notification will be made should
changes be required.

Tentative
Assessment Task Weighting
week/due date
Assessment task 1: Viva exam
Students will be assessed via a 30-minute viva exam. During the
viva exam, students are required to demonstrate their clinical
reasoning skills in assessing and planning a treatment for a case
study (i.e., an adult patient with a neurological condition).
Neurological conditions will include conditions covered from
weeks 1 to 5. Tasks to be performed during the practical exam will
include:
30% Week 6
a) prioritising problems and setting patient-centred goals,
b) planning an appropriate assessment and treatment strategy
for case study, and
c) justifying the assessment and treatment based on clinical
reasoning and research evidence.
Prior to the viva exam, similar case studies will be given to the
students two weeks before the viva exam to allow time for
preparation and revision.
Assessment task 2: Practical exam
Students will be assessed via a 30-minute practical exam. During
the practical exam, students are required to demonstrate their
clinical reasoning skills in assessing and planning a treatment for
a case study (i.e., an adult patient with a neurological condition).
Neurological conditions will include conditions covered from
weeks 1 to 12. Tasks to be performed during the practical exam
30% Week 13
will include:
d) prioritising problems and setting patient-centred goals,
e) conducting an appropriate assessment, and
f) conducting an appropriate treatment strategy for case study.
Prior to the practical exam, similar case studies will be given to
the students two weeks before the practical exam to allow time for
preparation and revision.

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 Tentative
Assessment Task Weighting
week/due date
Assessment task 3: Final Written exam
Students will be assessed via a 2-hour written exam. Students are
required to apply the principles and knowledge gained from all
40% Week 14/15
lectures, lab sessions and industry visit from weeks 1 to 12. The
written exam will consist of multiple-choice questions and short
answer questions, with some questions related to case studies.

5.2 Pass Requirements

In order to pass the module, students are required to

a) complete all assessments items,
b) pass the practical exam(s) with grade C,
c) achieve a minimum grade of E, and
d) attend a minimum of 90% of practical and tutorial classes (if applicable)

Clearing the practical examination is a requirement to pass this module. Re-examination for
practical is offered only once in the same trimester for students who failed any practical component.

A “C” grade or above is considered as ‘Pass’ and an “F” grade is considered as “Fail”. Students
with grades “D” or “E” will be given the option to repeat module but the maximum grade for repeated
attempt will be capped at 2.0. Successful completion of the academic module is also based on
fulfilment of any other requirement(s) set by the module coordinator and programme director.

Do note that the criteria for acceptable standing in any given trimester is maintaining a minimum
Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.0.

Refer to the SIT Academic Guide for further details.

5.3 Late Submission

The following applies in this module:

Assignments: Late submissions for assignment, without penalties, require a written application to
be submitted prior to the submission deadline. If the right for a late submission was not granted,
late submission will then be accepted until 4 days after the original deadline, with a penalty of 15%
per day. Later than 4 days after the original deadline, no marks will be awarded to late submissions.

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INSTRUCTOR’S VIEW ONLY

Section A:
Mapping of Learning Outcomes

Below is a table showing the relationship between the learning outcomes for this Module and the
broader graduate attributes developed, the learning activities used to develop each learning outcomes
and the assessment task used to assess each learning outcomes.

Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Learning Activities
Weekly lectures
Weekly labs sessions
Others (e.g., industry visits)
Assessment Tasks
Viva exam
Practical exam
Final written examination

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Section B:

Questions for Student Survey on Learning Outcomes:

Upon completing the module, I am able to:

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
1. Outline the pathophysiology,
prognosis and general
management of adult
neurological conditions such as
Parkinson’s disease, Traumatic
Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, □1 □2 □3 □4 □5
Neuromuscular disorders and
Vestibular conditions (e.g.,
Benign Paroxysmal Positional
Vertigo (BPPV) and Vestibular
Neuronitis)
2. Use the ICF framework to
organise and prioritise problems,
and set patient-centered goals for □1 □2 □3 □4 □5
adults with neurological
conditions
3. Design appropriate assessment
and treatment plans for adult
neurological conditions based on □1 □2 □3 □4 □5
clinical reasoning and research
evidence
4. Conduct appropriate
assessments for adult □1 □2 □3 □4 □5
neurological conditions
5. Demonstrate appropriate
treatment strategies for adult □1 □2 □3 □4 □5
neurological conditions
6. Identify various neurological
treatment approaches and
□1 □2 □3 □4 □5
discuss their underlying rationale
and evidence
7. Evaluate the use of equipment
and technology such as body
weight support, virtual reality and
□1 □2 □3 □4 □5
robotics in the physiotherapy
management of adult
neurological conditions
8. Discuss cognitive training
strategies in neurological □1 □2 □3 □4 □5
rehabilitation.

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