OPTIMI:
OPTIMI is a Charity that has been established to bring the theory and practice of Targeted Training therapy to a worldwide audience, including therapists, families and those with a more general interest in movement control. OPTIMI is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
The charitable objects of the OPTIMI are:
The relief of sickness and the promotion of health among those suffering with Neuromotor and Neuromuscular disorders, by means of:
- Advancing the education of professionals, specifically to promote, sustain and increase individual and collective knowledge and understanding of specific areas of study, skills and expertise relating to the model of physiotherapy known as Targeted Training.
- Nurturing the concerns of all those, worldwide, who have interest and/or involvement in the sequential and segmental approach to the development of human movement control.
- The creation, monitoring and encouragement of maintenance of clinical standards of the model of physiotherapy known as Targeted Training.
OPTIMI and SAFETY
OPTIMI endeavours to ensure that, in the promotion of measuring movement control and implementing Targeted Training, the safety of therapy staff and their clients is always at the forefront.
In the teaching material you will often encounter the invitation to “Try this out:”. Since we cannot know the health status of individuals reading this, nor their environment, we ask that you think about your safety, and that of others, before engaging in the activity.
Some of the teaching examples show work with very young children where manual handling is less likely to present difficulties. As children grow the forces required to support them for testing control status or delivering Targeted Training increase to levels where equipment may be required to make matters safe. We have spent many hours working with equipment manufacturers to help ensure that suitable equipment is available although, at present, not all age ranges are covered across all international territories. This will undoubtedly lead to the situation where there is a temptation to adapt available equipment or request the manufacture of locally made devices to assist you. OPTIMI strongly urges you to ensure that when making such moves you work within your local legal framework relating to the supply of Medical Devices.
By way of example the situation in Europe might be considered.
In Europe, all equipment manufactured for use by children with disability is classified as a ‘Medical Device’. This will include any commercially available products for SATCo and for Targeted Training. There are a set of regulations for such devices with respect to their design and testing.
But this does not only apply to commercial products. All devices/equipment made for use by a child with a disability will come under this umbrella, including those that are home-made by you or a family member / friend or even a by professional who is not authorised to make such devices. This includes everything, including for example, a flat board with a slight tilt for the child to stand on!
Although we are referring here to the situation in Europe, all countries worldwide will have a similar arrangement with regulations.
”I can just ignore that…Everyone ignores that!”
This may be your reaction and we understand. It is not always easy or affordable to use authorised manufacture.
But please don’t just ignore. The problem arises if something goes wrong. Let us suppose the child falls off the board with a tilt and breaks their ankle. The person responsible is YOU. You commissioned the board, and you are thus legally responsible for its design, structure, use and safety. If there are legal proceedings ensuing, the responsibility is yours, but it is very unlikely that your professional indemnity will cover this, as equipment design is almost certainly beyond the scope of practice for which you are covered.
Please think twice and take advice.
Note: Optimi has no affiliation to any commercial equipment organisations
Penny Butler:
Penny is a paediatric physiotherapist and researcher with more than 30 years’ experience and a particular interest in the biomechanics of movement control. She has pioneered Targeted Training therapy in the UK.
www.researchgate.net/profile/Penny-Butler
Richard Major:
Richard is a Chartered Engineer who has worked in partnership with Penny for more than 30 years in developing Targeted Training. Although now retired he maintains an interest in exploring movement control issues.
