Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Face

George Foreman is quoted as saying, “sure the fight was fixed. I fixed it with a right hand!” Patients with a cardiac event or experiencing a pulmonary exacerbation may feel like they are on the receiving end of that blow. Physical therapists work with individuals in the hospital, skilled nursing facilities and outpatient settings using a tool bag of skills to help patients reach their goals and improve their quality of life. What do you do if your patient is a slow starter, has trouble with motivation or is not giving full effort? Boxing is a treatment tool that is rarely used outside of neuro re-education but that has benefits for all access points of physical therapy.

This educational session is intended to provide evidence-based research and practical application of using boxing in low intensity sessions to high intensity interval training to decrease the risk of sequelae from pulmonary and cardiac diagnoses in pediatric to geriatric patients. Attendees will leave the session armed with the knowledge and know-how to utilize this treatment tool across the spectrum to provide optimal care in a fun and dynamic way to increase adherence to a treatment plan.

Upon completion of this course, the attendee will –
• Examine the various components of boxing and their previous and future use in a physical therapy plan of care.
• Support the use of boxing with a kinesthetic learning style to increase health literacy.
• Select boxing as a treatment tool based on principles from case-based scenarios.
• Discuss the physical and relational impact on patients using boxing as a treatment tool.