Changing the Culture: Community Involvement

 Now, how can PTs be able to influence change on the community scale? PTs contribute by partnering with local organizations, community centers, schools, and churches. Here in Houston, PTs are very involved in many organizations outside their own places of work. Some typical things they do at these places are movement screenings, health education seminars, and teaching group physical therapy classes. I've seen PTs work alongside the medical tents at running events like the Houston Rodeo Run to help with any injured runners. PTs are also involved with adaptive sports with some taking place at the University of Houston or community centers such as West Gray Recreation Center. These modified sports are designed to allow people with disabilities to participate in friendly competition.  For my classmates and I, these are programs where we had the opportunity to work alongside some patients we may encounter in the clinic. And I tell you, these children and adults play hard and challenge themselves every time. If you ever get the chance to play, it is way harder than you think. It is a very cool experience that allows everyone to participate and have fun at the same time. 

Going back to the childhood obesity example, on the community level, schools are one of the most influential places for PTs to intervene with childhood obesity. PTs involvement in these places can include increasing daily physical activity and building positive attitudes of just moving and leaving behind sedentary behavior. Working with the school PE teachers to ensure they are getting the recommended amount of exercise per week. Overall PTs collaborate with teachers and other health professions like school nurses to ensure student wellness. By doing this, through the school system, lifelong healthy habits can be promoted for the children.


But why do PTs go the extra effort to be a part of the community and not just work their regular day jobs alone. I think it shows the passion to really help people, and make a difference for those around us. It is the nature of the profession where we focus on prevention, being proactive and not just reactive in terms of our own health. It is really the reason why I got into PT in the first place. Having the experiences I’ve been able to have here in Houston throughout school, I want to see back home. Right now, I’m sure down there in the RGV, there are things like I mentioned before, yet to fully make change, we must be able to reach it on a much larger scale. 


Stay tuned for PT advocacy and policy on the societal level!

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