In the Community

Community involvement is an integral component of the physical therapy department’s mission of preparing clinicians to practice in today’s complex healthcare environment. The department has community-based outreach relationships with many organizations in the region to facilitate rehabilitation and solutions to prevention and wellness issues in the community. Additionally, the department is committed to providing community access to educational programs that promote clinical expertise among practicing clinicians in the region and the nation.

Department sponsored yearly events include:

• Physical Therapy Month
• University Health Fair
• Annual Wheelchair Benefit Basketball Game

Professional Organizations

The Physical Therapy Department has been involved with the following organizations:

• Lowell Council on Aging
• Littleton Council on Aging
• Elder Services of Merrimack Valley in Lawrence
• HEAD Start Program in Lowell
• D’Youville Rehabilitation
• Winchester Hospital/Orthopaedics Plus, Woburn
• Northeast Rehab
• Emerson Hospital, Westford
• Lowell Community Health Center
• UMass Lowell Human Resources Department
• Life Links
• Chelmsford Senior Center
• Anne Sulllivan Center
• Ironstone Farm
• UMass Lowell Recreation Center
• UMass Lowell Demonstration School

Service Learning in Physical Therapy is a new capstone course in the Doctoral Physical Therapy Program. This seven-week course will include relevant and meaningful service in the community with specific academic learning objectives. The students will use experiential learning to complement and enrich classroom and traditional pedagogies. Students will have opportunities to learn about particular populations and social issues in the community. This course will provide the students with an opportunity to design and implement educational and training programs in an effort to meet the needs in the populations that they are serving in the community. Students will learn about working collaboratively with others from different cultures and other diverse populations. Students will strengthen listening and communication skills that are essential to a practicing physical therapist.

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