ATRI Rheumatology Certification

Intermediate Pool Workshop

Typical Schedule:

Classroom: 7:30-9:30 am

Pool: 9:30-11:30 am

Lunch (on own): 11:30 am-12:30 pm

Classroom: 12:30-3:30 pm

Pool: 3:30-4:30 pm

Faculty: Sheralee Beebe, BA, MES

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This ATRI Rheumatology Certification acknowledges your skills and education. It goes beyond basic knowledge of the most common rheumatic conditions, including a variety of other accompanying conditions, and is geared toward client application, offering full plans on how these conditions can be treated with therapeutic aquatic techniques. You will discuss new ideas in movement, safety and leadership. This program provides advanced learning for rheumatological, autoimmune and arthritis conditions. Some practitioners start with the Arthritis Foundation course, gain some experience practicing, and then continue to develop their education by taking the ATRI Rheumatology Certification. For those of you who have more background, and work with different pool temperatures, different levels of functionality, combined disease dysfunctions or disabilities, you’ll be able to create your own program geared specifically to that client.

This course provides research and applied aquatic rehabilitation principles to the effects of rheumatic diseases. Know why you are doing the exercises and plan for functional carry-overs to land activities. Know why an exercise should or should not be performed. Know how to gain safe progress with clients without causing flare-ups. Learn how to have better success with rheumatological situations in challenging conditions like FMS, TKR, THR, etc. Learn what concepts are behind actual contraindications for arthritis, not just general "do not do" exercises.

The inflammatory process and the process of degenerative joint changes in the knee, spine and shoulder are included along with how the chronic disease cycle affects people with rheumatic conditions. Be aware of the varied symptoms of the most common types of Arthritis - Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Lupus, and Scleroderma.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: At the conclusion of the course, participants should be able to: 

¨ Apply hydrodynamics and the physiological effects of immersion to gain specific therapeutic goals in the treatment of arthritis.

¨ Educate clients to become more active through knowledge, and empower them to be active participants in their own progress and health maintenance.

¨ Identify special precautions and aquatic training principles used to increase strength, range of motion, endurance, and functional capacity of a rheumatic client.

¨ Apply training principles to common medical conditions that rheumatic participants may also have (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, asthma, etc.).

¨ Demonstrate the integration of functional exercises to enhance the quality of life and active daily living abilities.

¨ Identify ROM exercises addressing all major joints of the body, especially those commonly affected by rheumatic conditions.

¨ Identify stretching techniques and precautions for each major muscle group, including lumbar and cervical spine, hamstrings, quadriceps, shoulder, pectorals, obliques, hips, biceps, triceps and gastrocs.

¨ Demonstrate common relaxation strategies to facilitate stress and pain management.

FACULTY: Sheralee Beebe, BA, MES, is a Post-Rehab Aquatic Specialist, who has been practicing since 1991. She has developed three full service aquatic rehab programs in Canada and California. Sheralee is the co-author of the ATRI Rheumatology Certification, and is a member of the ATRI Standards and Certification Committees.