.:: ELIM OUTREACH TRAINING CENTER ::.

Physical Therapy Aide

The goal of the physical therapy aide is to serve as a helpful member of the physical therapy team whose responsibilities are supervised by the physical therapist or the physical therapy assistant. Physical therapy is concern with the improvement of functional abilities in persons with limitations due to pain, disease, or injury. Positions for physical therapy aides exist in all areas of the health care industry, including doctors’ offices, clinics, hospitals, outpatients care providers, assisted living centers and nursing homes.

Course Outline:

Medical Terminology
Proper body positions
Professional ethical behaviors
Basic ambulatory devices
Therapeutics exercise
Role of a Physical Therapy Aide
Heat treatment
Functions of major body structures
Terms related to disease, diagnosis and treatment
Verbal and nonverbal communication
Safety
Principles of infection control

Course work includes 80 clock hours of Theory and 40 clock hours of Clinical over a 7 ½ week period.

Duties and Responsibilities. Click to view

Physical therapy aides perform a variety of functions that may include:

Keeping physical therapy area clean
Preparing physical therapy area for incoming patients
Preparing each patient for therapy
Assisting patients, who are mobility challenged, to and from treatment areas
Performing minor clerical tasks such as answering the phone, ordering supplies, and filling out paperwork.
Administers treatment in all phases of therapeutic exercises such as passive, active, assistive and resistive muscles training and gait training.

The physical therapy aide position requires some strength due to the responsibilities of the job. The need to assist and sometime lift patients requires the physical therapist aide to have moderate strength. In addition, the physical therapy aide job is a physical one where the majority of time is spent standing, walking, stooping, bending, and kneeling.

Employment Opportunity Click to view

Employment of physical therapist aides is expected to increase 43 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations. Demand for physical therapy services is expected to increase in response to the healthcare needs of a growing elderly population. The median annual wage of physical therapist aides was $23,680 in May 2010 * According to Occupational Outlook Handbook, US Bureau of Labor Statistic, 2012-2013 *