Springfield College Hosts Fall Prevention Clinic
Physical Therapy (PT) graduate students joined their counterparts from the Occupational Therapy (OT) program to conduct a Fall Prevention Clinic on the campus.
By: Damon Markiewicz
The Springfield College Brown Cooper Health Sciences Center has been the centerpiece of interprofessional collaboration amongst healthcare majors and faculty, focusing on staying committed to serving others. That mission was once again on display with Physical Therapy (PT) graduate students joining their counterparts from the Occupational Therapy (OT) program, to conduct a Fall Prevention Clinic on the campus.
Springfield College Physical Therapy Professor Maggie Daingerfield ’11, DPT’14, works with a great team of PT and OT faculty members to help make this clinic a success. OT faculty members Jean McCaffery, Carey Leckie, G'96, along with PT faculty members Maureen Barrett, G'93, Kim Nowakowski '90, G'91, and Elizabeth Montemagni '92, G'95, all use their expertise to assure the PT and OT cohorts live out the College’s Humanics philosophy by providing fall risk assessments for community members.
For Daingerfield, she is thrilled to be back where her academic journey began. Having gained experience in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and outpatient settings, Daingerfield is excited to lead programs like the Fall Prevention Clinic, allowing her to focus her research on patients managing various aspects of living with chronic neurologic conditions while witnessing the impact the environment has on student learning.
“Being able to utilize the prime working spaces we have in the Health Sciences Center really helped the College continue to offer this program to our community members,” explained Daingerfield, who is a board-certified clinical specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy. “The clinic featured second-year graduate students, who had the ability to take what they learned in the simulation lab in the fall semester, and apply it to a real-word setting with community members in the spring. It’s a great opportunity for the students to take part in experiential learning, which is so important for their continued development.”
Each fall prevention participant had the opportunity to fill out a screening summary sheet when getting started. This first step allowed individuals to receive a test score after their screening, which helped guide the student’s decision-making process, and allowed the patient to walk away with something tangible. Participants were properly screened by both students and faculty for their balance and fall risk, followed by receiving some recommendations for medical care following the screening.
“The fall prevention screening is such an important first step because it allowed the students to get to know their patients, and it also allowed for the students to get together with faculty and asses the best options for the participant,” explained Daingerfield.
Through the assistance of The Wellness Institute Director Devan Musa, G’20, who was leading the Lifelong Learning program on the campus this year, participants for the fall prevention clinic were individuals who have discovered the valuable resources the College provides to its community members on a regular basis.
“Having the assistance of The Wellness Institute was very helpful in allowing the students to work with an impressive number of individuals this semester,” explained Daingerfield. “We ended up having three separate dates that participants could take advantage of, and we are looking forward to continued growth in finding new participants as we remain committed to offering this resource to individuals.”
Using the beacon of Humanics, the Brown Cooper Health Sciences Center, the College remains dedicated to expanding the clinic options in the future.
“There is definitely a plan for continued growth with the clinic,” explained Daingerfield. “Right now, we have PT and OT represented, but the plan is to get even more programs involved, such as our colleagues in the Physician Assistant Studies and Social Work areas of study. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
