Rehabilitation for Paediatrics (REHB90005)

This online subject provides students with the opportunity to build an understanding of the safe and effective application of intervention and rehabilitation principles to meet the health needs of infants, children and adolescents and their families. The subject will focus on understanding typical development across the motor, cognitive, language and social-emotional domains throughout childhood. Students will develop an extended knowledge of evidence-based assessments, interventions and rehabilitation for childhood-onset disabilities in order to improve their daily life and participation in the society. Students will design and evaluate a rehabilitation program in their own context and will contribute to the learning of other students via discussion board and an online presentation.

All students will complete four modules within this subject.

All students will complete a foundational module that will use the ICF (international classification of function, disability and health) to explore the development of body structures and function of infant, child and adolescent development across motor, cognitive, language and socio-emotional domains. Students will develop their understanding of the typical development and factors that may alter this development pathway and appreciate age appropriate activity and participation. During the foundational module, students will also explore motor learning interventions in paediatrics. Students will learn about the application of motor learning principles for effective rehabilitation interventions for children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental, neuromusculoskeletal or acquired neurological
impairments.

Students will then choose two from the following three modules that best meets their learning interests and/or practice needs. These modules are:

1. The ‘Early detection of neurodevelopmental impairments’ module describes evidence-based diagnostic, assessment and prognostic options for infants at high risk of neurodevelopmental impairments. Students will learn about clinical pathways and
decision-making trees that include assessment and expected outcomes based on best available evidence.

2. The ‘Gait development’ module will cover typical and atypical gait development from infants to adolescence, including assessment of common gait impairments and disorders secondary to neurodevelopment, neuromusculoskeletal or acquired impairments. Assessment will focus on the temporo-spatial, kinematics and kinetics determinants of gait.

3. The ‘Transition from childhood to adulthood’ module will cover the biological and social role transitions from child to adolescence and adolescence to adulthood. Students will investigate how environmental factors (such as health policy and health service
provision) and personal factors (such as socioemotional responses) characterise these transitions and the subsequent health and wellness experiences of the individual.

The final Integration module will be completed by all students and will focus on the application of rehabilitation theory to practice with an understanding of the needs of the individual and engagement with a group program. Students will integrate and apply their learning from the previous modules into context specific applications. They will select appropriate outcomes measures and critically review literature to solve contextually relevant rehabilitation challenges.