Updates to the APA Clinical Guide to Safe Manual Therapy Practice in the Cervical Spine

This live lecture will outline the key updates to the clinical guide and provide an overview of recent research findings which have informed them. There will be opportunity within the session for discussion and for members to ask questions to clarify any concerns they may have. 

Presenter

Dr Lucy Thomas, PhD, MMedSc, Grad DipApp Sc (Manip Phty), Dip Phys, APAM, is a researcher, academic and Co-Director of the Neck, and Headache research unit at the University of Queensland. She is a Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and holds an honorary appointment at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.  

Dr Thomas has worked as a manipulative physiotherapist for 34 years and taught in musculoskeletal physiotherapy since 2005. She completed her PhD in 2013, ' Minimising risk factors for cervical spine manipulation' and MMedSc 'Validity of the Doppler velocimeter as a pre-manipulative screening tool for vertebral artery flow'. She led development of the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) ‘Clinical guide to safe manual therapy practice in the cervical spine’ in 2018, and the updates made in 2024 which she will talk to you in this presentation. Her research also informed the revised IFOMPT framework in 2020. Her research focuses on early identification of craniocervical arterial dissection and red flag conditions in headache and neck pain, evaluation of the role of the neck in disorders such as headache and dizziness and validating simple screening tools for the cervical region for use in clinical practice. 

She has been an invited keynote speaker at international and national conferences and delivers workshops and webinars lectures nationally and internationally to present her research findings. She has published widely in peer reviewed journals and contributed chapters to two textbooks on cervical spine management. She teaches extensively into undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapy programs and supervises several doctoral students.   

Host

Musculoskeletal National Group

Date of Live Event

17/03/2025

CPD Hours

1.5 hour

Please note: The content of this Lecture on Demand (LOD) was captured via a recording of a live lecture at the APA premises. Due to the nature of the event and the recording method, this LOD may not have captured some of the questions/comments from live audience. Your purchase of this module indicates your acceptance of this.