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UAB Online Training for Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy

Black female working on a laptop in her home sitting at the kitchen bar.Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CI therapy) is a physical rehabilitation approach designed to improve motor recovery and increase extremity use following neuromuscular injury such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy and brain resection.

Since 1987, Dr. Edward Taub and his research group at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have been leaders in CI therapy research and development. Developed by Dr. Taub, the approach has been successfully used to improve function in adults and children recovering from neuromuscular dysfunction at UAB and other laboratories in the United States and abroad.

To promote understanding and appropriate use of CI therapy in clinical practice, The UAB CI Therapy Research Group, led by Dr. Taub, has developed an online training program for health professionals interested in establishing CI therapy clinical programs for upper extremity (UE) recovery with adults and children recovering from stroke and other neurologic conditions.

Program Description

The online training program consists of 14 self-paced, narrated PowerPoint presentations, multiple activities to enrich learning along the way, demonstration videos, synchronous and asynchronous opportunities to ask questions of course instructors, a huge bank of resources (manuals, journal articles), and built-in strategies to self-assess/check your new skills and clinical application.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the scientific rationale for improving motor function through CI therapy.
  • Discuss previous research findings related to CI therapy.
  • Accurately describe and apply the techniques constituting the CI therapy protocol.

Continuing Education Units

Upon completion of this course, participants will earn 2.0 continuing education credits (20 contact hours) awarded from the UAB School of Health Professions.

Course Instructors

  • Mary Bowman, OTR/L, C/NDT, LSVT-BIG

    Mary is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy in the UAB School of Health Professions. She is an occupational therapist with 31 years of experience specializing in neurorehabilitation after graduating from UAB in 1992.

    In 2002, Mary joined the UAB CI Therapy Research Group with Edward Taub, PhD, where she performed evaluation, testing, intervention, outcome development, and protocol development for multiple Constraint-Induced Therapy research trials. She has applied all forms of upper extremity CI Therapy protocols clinically with adults in the Taub Therapy Clinic and with children in the Pediatric CI Therapy Clinic at Children’s of Alabama.

    Since its inception in 2005, she has been an instructor for the UAB Training for CI Therapy offered in Birmingham and internationally. She is the Therapy Representative for UAB on a multi-site TBIMS study with Ohio State University for Comparing Treatment Approaches to Promote Inpatient Rehabilitation Effectiveness for TBI (CARE4TBI).

    Mary is the Director of the UAB Neuroplasticity Clinical Lab focusing on education, clinical services, and research for interventions that produce beneficial neuroplastic change. The clinical services offered include the Neuroplasticity Rehabilitation Program, a faculty practice that offers CI Therapy and other neuroplasticity-based rehabilitation protocols to patients with neurological injury or illness.

    Her research interests include CI Therapy, neuroplasticity-based rehabilitation, and participation /community engagement.

  • David M. Morris, PT, PhD, FAPTA

    David is a Professor in and Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he has served since 1991. He has taught in the entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Science in Physical Therapy and PhD in Rehabilitation Science degree programs.

    He earned a B.S. in Physical Therapy from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; a M.S. in Physical Therapy Education and a Ph.D. in Health Education/Promotion from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is also a Credentialed Fellowship Graduate from the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) Education Leadership Institute Fellowship.

    David has been a member of the UAB Constraint Induced (CI) Therapy Research Group since 1994 and has participated in multiple research projects aimed at developing the approach and examining its influence on extremity use following stroke and other neurologic disorders. He is Training Coordinator for the UAB Training for CI Therapy program and conducts CI therapy training programs for rehabilitation professionals worldwide.

    He has held multiple leadership roles in several American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) components including being a member of the founding Executive Committee and serving two terms as President for the APTA Aquatic PT Section. He also served three terms as Vice President and two terms as President for the Alabama Chapter of the APTA.

    David has authored and/or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters concerning the topics of aquatic physical therapy, neurologic physical therapy and the PTs role in health promotion, wellness and prevention. He is recipient of multiple awards including the 2009 APTA Lucy Blair Service Award, the 2012 APTA Legislative Commitment Award, the 2012 Marilyn Gossman Award for Professionalism in PT and the 2016 Leadership Award from the Alabama Chapter of the APTA, and the 2017 Joseph F. Volker Outstanding Faculty Award from the UAB School of Health Professions.

    In 2017, he received the APTA Catherine Worthingham Fellow Award.

Course Registration

  • Clinician rate: $375 USD
  • Student rate: $225 USD

Minimum System Requirements

Click here to see the minimum system requirements.

Interested?

If you have questions, or wish to be contacted when the course is live, please click here for a form to add your contact information.