The Team
Approach
to Assessment
and Treatment of Spasticity
Prepared as a team
effort under the direction of A. Leland Albright, M.D. and
Stanley D. Klein, Ph.D.
No
single Spasticity treatment is appropriate for every individual
and no treatment is perfect. Because there are opinions,
parents, individuals with Spasticity, primary care physicians
and other professional must work together as part of an
effective treatment team.
Team approach
The
family and the individual are the center part of the treatment
team. After them it is important to have a solid clinical team.
Indeed, a multidisciplinary clinical team approach is the most
effective method for evaluation, goal-setting and treatment
planning. It makes sense for specialists from related health
care fields to meet with the individual with spasticity and
parents or care providers to make treatment decisions. The
clinical team needs to confer regularly to reevaluate to the
individual's condition and modify goals and treatment plans as
appropriate.
At
typical medical centers serving individuals with spasticity,
several different specialists participate, including
(but not limited to):
-
A
neurosurgeon to examine and surgically treat conditions
affecting the nervous system -brain, spinal cord and nerves:
-
an
orthopedic surgeon to examine and surgically treat
conditions affecting the Musculoskeletal system - bones,
joints, muscles and tendons;
-
a physiatrist to examine and treat via
non-surgical interventions such as medication, therapies
(physical, occupation, speech)
and adaptive medical equipment.
Other
specialists who often figure prominently on the clinical team
roster include pediatric neurologists, psychologists,
developmental pediatricians.
The
clinical team also includes:
-
the
child's pediatrician, who can provide critical insight into
the original diagnosis and subsequent treatments and general
health;
-
a
physical therapist to assess gross motor skills- sitting,
walking, movement patterns, posture, balance- and suggest
treatments;
-
an
occupational therapist to assess fine motor skills- eating,
dressing, grooming, other activities of daily living- and
suggest treatments;
-
a
social worker to assess family needs as well as the personal
and social needs of the individual with spasticity. Speech
language therapists, nurses and nutritionists may be part of
the team as well.
Usually,
each clinician meets with the person with spasticity either
individually or with another clinical team member.
Clinicians may also meet with parents or care providers. During
this process, various questions are asked and the individual is
examined. A discussion of prior therapies and possible goals for
the future may also be discussed. Then, members of the clinical
team and family members usually meet to review the observations
of each clinician, prioritize goals and develop a treatment
plan.
While
individual centers structure meetings differently, ideally,
within the model of family-centered care, the individual and the
family play a major role in determining goals. The professionals
offer guidance based on their clinical examinations, experience
and specialized knowledge.
Goals
can vary considerably and sometimes, particularly with young
children who are still developing, goals and intervention
strategies may not be clear. In these cases, the team will
probably reevaluate the child in six to 12 months to reconsider
goals and treatments.
Most
importantly, everyone need to weigh all of the treatment
implications; the potential for reaching goals and the
possibility of disappointments, side effects, and poor results.
The
following articles will discuss interventions currently
available to treat spasticity. These need to be considered
systematically as a total approach to modifying an individual's
quality of life. Individuals may have other special needs,
including speech, hearing and/or vision impairments, seizures,
learning disabilities or mental retardation. This means that
individuals with disabilities and their family members need to
collaborate with health care and education specialists.
Credit for this article goes to A. Leland Albright, M.D. and
Stanley D. Klein, Ph.D. and Exceptional Parent Magazine.