Prosthetic Limb Users Survey (PLUS)

Do you have amputations in both legs and walk with your prostheses?

If so, we need your help! Researchers at the University of Washington are developing the Prosthetic Limb Users Survey (PLUS), a tool to help prosthetists and researchers better understand the experience of using prostheses. We need your help to make sure PLUS asks meaningful questions about the things you can do with your prosthesis.

We need volunteers to fill out an online survey that
will help us select the best questions for people with amputations in both legs.
People who live anywhere in the United States are welcome to take this survey. If you are eligible to participate, you will receive $25 for completing the survey.

To review the contents of the survey click here.
For more information or to take a survey, please go to www.MobilitySurvey.org

Or contact us at 1-800-504-0564 or info@mobilitysurvey.org

Recommended Reading

Dankmeyer, Inc., President Mark Hopkins' chapter on Orthotics and Prosthetics is included in the book, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Pocket Companion by Marlis Gonzales-Fernandez, MD, PhD., and Jarrod David Friedman, MD.

 

Here's the book description from Amazon [click here to read more about it]:

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Pocket Companion is designed to meet the day-to-day needs of PM&R residents, practicing physiatrists, and physicians in other specialties seeing rehabilitation patients. Focused solely on clinical care delivery, this handy reference provides the tools necessary to navigate everything from PM&R team coordination to the tailoring of medical management to achieve functional goals. Divided into four sections, the book covers all rehabilitation topics and is packed with practical information useful in daily practice, including disease-specific order sets and tips for managing the wide range of issues that commonly occur during a patient's rehabilitation. The first section introduces the field of rehabilitation medicine, the second reviews the scope of practice of allied health professionals on the rehabilitation team, the third section discusses rehabilitation topics and practice areas, and the fourth is an extensive Appendix of 24 assessment and rating scales, tables, and algorithms, essential for daily clinical use.

Mobility Saves Educational Program

Mobility Saves is an educational program based on the Dobson DaVanzo study, a study funded by AOPA that studied Medicare data and proved the cost-effectiveness of orthotics and prosthetics. For a quick explanation of Mobility Saves, please watch this brief presentation.

To help spread the word to clinicians, payers, and referral sources, AOPA has a series of PowerPoint presentations that can be adapted and shared.  Read the full Dobson DaVanzo study here (or at least the Executive Summary) for more details as well as other good news findings.