Lisa Kenyon

Family Education Support through a Growing Partnership

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The Neurology Department of Beijing Children’s Hospital (BJCH) is one of the leading pediatric neurology departments in our country, which has been existed for more than forty years. This department has complete professional disciplines with advanced technical skills. They have accumulated rich clinical experience in both common and rare diseases of pediatric neurology. The outpatient service is filled with patients of varying difficult cases. In 2013, there were more 110,000 outpatient visits to the department. . This Department is responsible for training and teaching doctors of pediatrics for Capital Medical University and the Inpatient Department of Beijing Pediatric Hospital. To provide parents with more knowledge and improve the communication and exchange of information between BJCH and LIH Olivia’s Place, we decide to carry out joint training for parents.

LIH Olivia’s Place specializes in children’s development, behavior, and rehabilitation for children and adolescents ages birth to 18 years of age. The Beijing clinic offers an international multi-disciplinary team (developmental behavioral pediatricians, pediatric neurology, pediatric rehabilitation physicians, clinical and educational psychologists, and an therapy team composed of physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language therapists, and behavioral therapists.

In order to give full play to the respective advantages of both BJCH and LIH Olivia’s Place and provide the highest quality medical services for children and parents, we established a team of experts to organize public scientific knowledge training, take advantage of technical experts, create a platform to provide parents with training and knowledge about their child’s diagnosis, how to support their child’s independence and education, and other aspects of growth and development. This training model allows for organic interaction between medical intervention and family education support for children.

BJCH Partnership 1In 2015, the partnership successfully implemented three training activities. The first was a physical therapy presentation in March by Dr. Lisa Kenyon(PT, associated professor, Grand Valley State University, who provided case-based teaching with three children. The second was for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in April; the presenter was Edna Elisabeth Nyang(CCC-SLP, Speech- Language Pathologist, LIH Olivia’s Place), Finally, Dr. Mease (Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician, LIH Olivia’s Place) presented additional information for parents of children with ASD in June. The initial three training events were very successful, with both doctors and parents speaking highly of their experience.

In 20016, LIH Olivia’s Place and the Neurology Department of BJCH are planning to continue this partnership to empower parents through training. The training plan for the first six months of 2016 includes 21 training sessions, with topics covering autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and cerebral palsy.

To learn more about this program or to obtain information on the training schedule and registration, please contact Yangshaoun at yangshaoyun@lih-invest.com.


Physical Therapists Grow Skills Through Visiting Grand Valley State University Professor

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In March 2015, Olivia’s Place had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Lisa Kenyon PT, DPT, PhD, PCS. Lisa is an Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, USA. She is a specialist in pediatric physical therapy and physical therapy education. Last winter, Lisa began partnering with Olivia’s Place in the development of a framework to provide educational advancement for Chinese trained therapists.

Participants of the regional Facilitating Movement in Children  workshop at Beijing School for the Blind

Participants of the regional Facilitating Movement in Children workshop at Beijing School for the Blind

Lisa’s visit to China started at Kunming Medical University in Yunnan Province, where she provided three days of training to the university’s rehabilitation educators regarding the US accreditation system and clinical education. Dr. Ao Lijuan, Chair of the university’s Rehabilitation Medicine Department, said, “”Dr. Kenyon was remarkable. Her training was a huge help to all of the faculty and leaders from the rehabilitation education community in China who traveled from around China to hear her. The participants felt her training was vitally helpful to our efforts to advance the profession of physical therapy, set up new physical therapy degree programs and accreditation standards and systems for those programs, and to improve the quality of clinic education for physical therapists here.” Following her time in Kunming, Lisa noted, “Like physical therapist educators I have met from all over the world, the Chinese educators are strongly committed to providing the best education possible for their students so that their students can provide the best possible care to all patients.”

Lisa Kenyon demonstrates techniques to improve head control at Beijing Children's Hospital.

Lisa Kenyon demonstrates techniques to improve head control at Beijing Children’s Hospital.

Lisa also provided training to therapists at Olivia’s Place and Eliott’s Corner on current physical therapy practice in the neonatal intensive care unit and the development of clinical reasoning skills. Lis Ringrose, Clinical Director, reported, “It was great to have Lisa visit and help our clinicians keep up with latest therapy thinking and practice. As we look to working toward our mission of helping to further therapy in China, and we work more in training local therapists, it is vital that we work closely with experienced educators.”

Lisa Kenyon and April Gamble, PT at Eliott's Corner, with training participants at Beijing Children's Hospital.

Lisa Kenyon and April Gamble, PT at Eliott’s Corner, with training participants at Beijing Children’s Hospital.

In Beijing, Lisa also provided a workshop regarding the use of manual handling techniques in facilitating a child’s movement and function.This was hosted by the Beijing School for the Blind. Forty-five therapists, doctors, and teachers attended from schools, hospitals, childcare centers, and orphanages in the Beijing area. An American physical therapist currently practicing in Tianjin who attended the workshop reported that Lisa provided a training that was more valuable than a continuing education course she recently took in America. She highlighted that Lisa provided both theory and relevant application, which is essential if participants are going to incorporate new information into their work with children.

Finally, Lisa provided training at Beijing Children’s Hospital, with participation from about 50 therapists and doctors. She worked directly with three pediatric patients in order to demonstrate the role of physical therapy in spinal cord injury, encephalitis, and coma. Dr. Fang Fang, Chair of the Neurology department at the hospital, stated that the training helped the hospital team further recognize the role of rehabilitation in improving a child’s function in a variety of conditions and diagnoses.

Dr. Han,Beijing Chidren's Hospital (2nd from left), reviews a brain MRI with Lisa and therapists from Eliott's Corner to discuss the role of physical therapy in the child's treatment plan.

Dr. Han,Beijing Chidren’s Hospital (2nd from left), reviews a brain MRI with Lisa and therapists from Eliott’s Corner to
discuss the role of physical therapy in the child’s treatment plan.

Lisa summarized her experience in China with, “I have developed a heart for China and see hope for a future that includes the availability of high quality therapy services for children in China. I look forward to the opportunity to partner with the therapists and staff at Olivia’s Place as they focus on their mission to improve the standard of care for the children in China who have special needs.”


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