ANPT Balance and Falls Special Interest Group

This podcast previews the CSM 2026 event in Anaheim, California, focusing on the importance of balance and falls in neurologic physical therapy. The hosts, Jennifer Nash and Nate Casey, discuss the value of networking, educational sessions, emerging themes, and practical tips for attendees. They highlight key sessions and events, emphasizing the new schedule format and the importance of self-care...

Host Maureen Clancy PT, DPT, OCS is joined by Holly Paczan PT, MPT, NCS and Sara Oxborough PT, DPT for a case study discussion of a patient who initially presented after sustaining a fall. Holly Paczan is a physical therapist and board certified clinical specialist in neurological physical therapy at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. She has over 16 years of clinical experience, specializing in the tr...

Whether you plan to attend in-person or watch on-demand, our host Marissa Lyon highlights an itinerary of education sessions, platform presentations, and poster sessions that will elevate your knowledge of balance training and fall prevention. Additionally, this month we throw in a few tips on having a successful and lower-stress CSM and eating well in Houston. We finish off with a lightning round...

Jason Adour, founder of Maine Strong Balance Center, speaks to me about the opportunities and challenges of starting and maintaining a small business focused on balance and falls while trying to treat his employees well, help them meet their definition of success, and serve the community good. Maine Strong Balance Center SCORE Small Business Mentoring Program Education from ANPT to improve your pr...

For this episode, I speak to Dr. Mike Studer about dual-task balance training, including what it is and what it isn't, the benefits of this training modality, dosing dual-task balance training, the effect of task prioritization, measuring outcomes after dual-task balance training, and much more. Fact check: Mike was correct, the Peregrine falcon is the fastest bird in the world (and the fastest an...

We talk to neurologic physical therapist, Nick Wendel, from the Center for Neurorehabilitation at Boston University about balance capcity and balance performance. We discuss measurement of performance and how he thinks about performance in designing treatments. Useful articles on this topic: Readiness to Change is Related to Real-world Walking and Depressive Symptoms in Chronic Stroke by Allison M...

Sara Oxborough, who currently serves on the ANPT Telehealth Task Force and previously served on the MN APTA Telehealth Task force, discusses the October 2023 publication and resources published on the ANPT website from the ANPT Telehealth Taskforce. Addressing Opportunities and Barriers in Telehealth Neurologic Physical Therapy: Strategies to Advance Practice Neuro Telehealth best practice from th...

In this episode we have a conversation with Dr. Sudeshna Chatterjee, assistant professor at Drexel University about her work both in the area of COMT genotype (variations of a gene involved in dopamine breakdown) on falls in older adults and in the area of concurrent tDCS and complex walking tasks. We review the results of her research and how the findings can guide physical therapy practice, even...

Winner of the 2023 Balance & Falls SIG Research Award, Dr. Tanvi Bhatt shares her journey to physical therapy research, contemporary evidence on perturbation training, why having your patient catch a heavy ball isn't reactive training, and low-tech solutions to integrating this training paradigm in the clinic. Dr. Bhatt's Cognitive Motor Balance Rehabilitation Laboratory: https://cmbrl.ahs.uic.edu...

In this episode of the Balance & Falls Special Interest Group Podcast, Host Marissa Lyon speaks with J.J. Mowder-Tinney. Dr. Mowder-Tinney was awarded the Best Poster Presenter at the ANPT Annual Conference in October 2022, with a poster titled "Effectiveness of Implementing a Single Session of Perturbation Training in the Clinical with Chronic Stroke." Drs. Lyon and Mowder-Tinney discuss the insp...

Conversation with the leaders of the Balance & Falls SIG, Debbie Espy (Chair), Jen Nash (Chair-elect), Laura Jacobs (Nominating committee), Nate Casey (Secretary), and Michele Collins (Vice chair). Show Notes: Interested in elected learship positions in the ANPT? https://neuropt.org/join/election-information Other Balance and Falls SIGs in the APTA, mentioned in the podcast as part of the tri-alli...

Discussion of the January 2022 JNPT article interview: "Fluid Cognition Relates to Locomotor Switching in Neurotypical Adults, Not Individuals After Stroke.": Balance and Falls SIG - Episode 9 In this episode from the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Balance and Falls Special Interest Group, Dr. Julie Schwertfeger interviews Dr. Darcy Reisman, Department Chair, Professor, and Academic Direct...

In this episode from the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Balance and Falls Special Interest Group, Dr. Julie Schwertfeger interviews Dr. Debbie Espy, Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences & Center for Human Machine Systems at Cleveland State University, and Chair of the Balance and Fall SIG. We discuss her PT background, early influences and mentors, and clinical application...

In this episode from the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy Balance and Falls Special Interest Group, Dr. Julie Schwertfeger interviews Dr. Cindy Gibson-Horn, the developer of  BalanceWear and owner of Motion Therapeutics Physical Therapy. We discuss her PT background, her clinical 'aha' moment about strategic torso weighting to improve balance, and a series of research studies that use the Ba...

In this episode, the leadership of the Balance & Falls SIG discusses their vision for the next 2 years, upcoming resources to be available to our members, as well as clinical pearls to improve your practice with your patients with balance dysfunction. Please email any questions to BalanceFallsSIG@gmail.com The Balance and Falls Special Interest Group is part of the Academy of Neurologic Physical T...

In this podcast, the ANPT Balance & Falls SIG interviews Dr. William Padula about Visual Midline Shift Syndrome (VMSS), and collaborative interventions to treat VMSS that adds to postural gait and balance impairment.  Dr. Padula is a Neuro-optometrist and founder of the Padula Institute. He is a pioneer in the assessment and treatment of neurologic visual-spatial syndromes that affect people with...

Podcast 4 is an interview with the Trialliance of Balance & Falls SIG Chairs representing the APTA Geriatric, Neurologic, and Oncology Academies.  The SIG Chairs talk about what led them to join forces and to create a course & handout that was presented at CSM 2020 in Colorado.   The Balance and Falls Special Interest Group is part of the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy – www.neuropt.org.

Podcast 3 is an interview with Laboratory Director, James Finley about the stroke balance and locomotion research being done at USC's Locomotor Control Lab. He shares thoughts on mentors and influences that led him to his current research projects while highlighting the current research related to stroke and locomotor learning and adaptation after stroke. The Balance and Falls Special Interest Gro...

Episode 2 is an interview with Brian Harris, the CEO and Founder of MedRhythms. He discusses the foundation of music in rehabilitation of balance in neurologic patients and the work of their organization. For more information on music rehabilitation visit MedRhythms  and read the article Thaut, M. H., Rice, R. R., Braun Janzen, T., Hurt-Thaut, C. P., & McIntosh, G. C. (2019). Rhythmic auditory sti...

Episode 1 is an interview with Melike Kahya, a graduate student at the University of Kansas who is completing her dissertation. Her research uses pupillometry and the assessment of balance and posture in healthy adults and people with Parkinson’s Disease. Learn more here about the poster Melike presented at CSM 2020. The Balance & Falls Special Interest Group is part of the Academy of Neurologic P...