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Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore how physical therapists use movement as a component of their clinical reasoning. Additionally, this research explored whether movement as a component of clinical reasoning aligns with the proposed signature pedagogy for physical therapist education, human body as teacher., Methods: The study utilized qualitative, descriptive methods in a multiple case studies design (each practice setting represented a different case for analysis purposes) with cross-case comparisons. Researchers conducted 8 focus groups across practice settings including acute care, inpatient neurological, outpatient orthopedics, and pediatrics. Each focus group had 4 to 6 participants. Through an iterative, interactive process of coding and discussion among all researchers, a final coding scheme was developed., Results: Through exploration of the research aims, 3 themes emerged from the data. These primary themes are: (1) movement drives clinical reasoning to optimize function; (2) reasoning about movement is multisensory and embodied; and (3) reasoning about movement relies on communication., Conclusions: This research supports a description of movement as the lens used by physical therapists in clinical reasoning and the integral role of movement in clinical reasoning and in learning from and through movement of the human body while learning from clinical reasoning experiences in practice., Impact: As the understanding of the ways physical therapists use and learn from movement in clinical reasoning and practice continues to emerge, it is important to continue exploring ways to best make this expanded, embodied conception of clinical reasoning explicit in the education of future generations of physical therapists., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Physical Therapy Association. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Physical therapy, along with most health professions, struggles to describe clinical reasoning, despite it being a vital skill in effective patient care. This lack of a unified conceptualization of clinical reasoning leads to variable and inconsistent teaching, assessment, and research., Objective: The objective was to conceptualize a broad description of physical therapists' clinical reasoning grounded in the published literature and to unify understanding for future work related to teaching, assessment, and research., Design/methods: The design included a systematic concept analysis using Rodgers' evolutionary methodology. A concept analysis is a research methodology in which a concept's characteristics and the relation between features of the concept are clarified., Results: Based on findings in the literature, clinical reasoning in physical therapy was conceptualized as integrating cognitive, psychomotor, and affective skills. It is contextual in nature and involves both therapist and client perspectives. It is adaptive, iterative, and collaborative with the intended outcome being a biopsychosocial approach to patient/client management., Limitations: Although a comprehensive approach was intended, it is possible that the search methods or reduction of the literature were incomplete or key sources were mistakenly excluded., Conclusions: A description of clinical reasoning in physical therapy was conceptualized, as it currently exists in representative literature. The intent is for it to contribute to the unification of an understanding of how clinical reasoning has been conceptualized to date by practitioners, academicians, and clinical educators. Substantial work remains to further develop the concept of clinical reasoning for physical therapy, including the role of movement in our reasoning in practice., (© 2018 American Physical Therapy Association.)

Background: Although clinical reasoning abilities are important learning outcomes of physical therapist entry-level education, best practice standards have not been established to guide clinical reasoning curricular design and learning assessment., Objective: This research explored how clinical reasoning is currently defined, taught, and assessed in physical therapist entry-level education programs., Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was administered to physical therapist program representatives., Methods: An electronic 24-question survey was distributed to the directors of 207 programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Descriptive statistical analysis and qualitative content analysis were performed. Post hoc demographic and wave analyses revealed no evidence of nonresponse bias., Results: A response rate of 46.4% (n=96) was achieved. All respondents reported that their programs incorporated clinical reasoning into their curricula. Only 25% of respondents reported a common definition of clinical reasoning in their programs. Most respondents (90.6%) reported that clinical reasoning was explicit in their curricula, and 94.8% indicated that multiple methods of curricular integration were used. Instructor-designed materials were most commonly used to teach clinical reasoning (83.3%). Assessment of clinical reasoning included practical examinations (99%), clinical coursework (94.8%), written examinations (87.5%), and written assignments (83.3%). Curricular integration of clinical reasoning-related self-reflection skills was reported by 91%., Limitations: A large number of incomplete surveys affected the response rate, and the program directors to whom the survey was sent may not have consulted the faculty members who were most knowledgeable about clinical reasoning in their curricula. The survey construction limited some responses and application of the results., Conclusions: Although clinical reasoning was explicitly integrated into program curricula, it was not consistently defined, taught, or assessed within or between the programs surveyed-resulting in significant variability in clinical reasoning education. These findings support the need for the development of best educational practices for clinical reasoning curricula and learning assessment., (© 2017 American Physical Therapy Association)

Background and Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective and prospective case report is to describe the feasibility and outcomes of using a low-cost, commercially available gaming system (Wii) to augment the rehabilitation of an adolescent with cerebral palsy., Patient and Setting: The patient was an adolescent with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy classified as GMFCS level III who was treated during a summer session in a school-based setting., Intervention: The patient participated in 11 training sessions, 2 of which included other players. Sessions were between 60 and 90 minutes in duration. Training was performed using the Wii sports games software, including boxing, tennis, bowling, and golf. He trained in both standing and sitting positions., Outcomes: Three main outcome measures were used: (1) visual-perceptual processing, using a motor-free perceptual test (Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, third edition); (2) postural control, using weight distribution and sway measures; and (3) functional mobility, using gait distance. Improvements in visual-perceptual processing, postural control, and functional mobility were measured after training., Discussion and Conclusion: The feasibility of using the system in the school-based setting during the summer session was supported. For this patient whose rehabilitation was augmented with the Wii, there were positive outcomes at the impairment and functional levels. Multiple hypotheses were proposed for the findings that may be the springboard for additional research. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first published report on using this particular low-cost, commercially available gaming technology for rehabilitation of a person with cerebral palsy.