Locomotor Training Principles and Practice

Kessler Foundation Research Center and the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation will provide a three and a half-day course on locomotor training.

This course also will provide locomotor retraining. That training is provided on a treadmill using partial body weight support and manual facilitation. Improved training is then transferred to overground skills that are integrated into the home and community.

This course also will provide locomotor retraining. That training is provided on a treadmill using partial body weight support and manual facilitation. Improved neuromuscular capacity is then transferred to overground skills that are integrated into the home and community.

The first day all participants will attend lectures that will focus on developing an understanding of the basic science and guiding principles of activity-based therapy, with an emphasis on locomotor training. All participants will be introduced to the skills and clinical-decision making required to deliver locomotor training.

The remainder of the course will have clinical team members participate in intensive skill development of locomotor training techniques. This includes patient evaluation and progression using a body weight support treadmill system, Locomotor training, overground assessment and progression, and community ambulation and activity training.

Seven locations have been chosen for this training. Each location will have different course instructor, each instructor is a noted leader in the field of locomotor training. Two of the following course instructors will be assigned at the Kessler faculty;

Susan Harkema, PhD, Director NeuroRecovery Network; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Louisville; Rehabilitation Research Director Frazier Rehabilitation Institute, Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Harkema developed the Locomotor Training Program based on knowledge gained from her research and collaborations during the past 14 years. These are enabling her to translate the latest scientific findings into clinical rehabilitative strategies.

Andrea Behrman, PhD, PT, Assistant Director; NeuroRecovery Network; Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida; Research Health Scientist, VA Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Gainesville, Florida Dr. Behrman, a physical therapist, has specialized in adult neuro-rehabilitation. She is committed to the development of best practice of walking recovery based on principles of activity-dependent plasticity and the intrinsic biology of the nervous system.

Elizabeth Ardolino, PT, MS Clinical Supervisor Locomotor Training Clinic, Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ms. Ardolino leads the NRN Locomotor Training staff at an out-patient rehabilitation clinic dedicated to advancing recovery of function after SCI using activity-based therapies. She is currently completing her PhD studies targeting measurement and recovery of balance.

For more information on this course please visit the event page on our website.