Abstract
Pediatric physical therapist practice presents unique challenges to the clinical reasoning processes of novice clinicians and physical therapist students. The purpose of this article is to present the Hypothesis-Oriented Pediatric Focused Algorithm (HOP-FA), a clinical framework designed to guide the clinical reasoning process in pediatric physical therapist practice. The HOP-FA provides a systematic, stepwise guide to the patient/client management process wherein the therapist is asked to consider various factors and issues that may affect the clinical reasoning process for a particular child and family. The framework provided by the HOP-FA is not built upon a specific therapeutic philosophy and may be useful as a tool in clinical education, in the classroom, and for clinicians who are new to or re-entering pediatric practice.
Footnotes
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The author acknowledges Mary Blackinton, PT, EdD, GCS, for her assistance in organizing and editing the manuscript.
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Different aspects of the framework outlined in the article have been presented at the following conferences: Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy, February 9, 2008, Nashville, Tennessee; Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association, February 10, 2009, Las Vegas, Nevada; and 2nd European Congress on Physiotherapy Education sponsored by the European Region of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy, September 25, 2008, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Received February 29, 2012.
- Accepted October 9, 2012.
- © 2013 American Physical Therapy Association
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