A Step in the Right Direction: Orthotics in the Military

Hey everyone,

I decided to do my project on the use of custom orthotics in  the military population during my mid-education crisis. As many of you know I have always been interested in pediatrics but I also enjoy the orthopedic realm. My second clinical rotation was completed at the VA in Salisbury from which I became interested in the military and possibly seeking an active duty career. I did some research into where physical therapists may be able to make a difference in this population and found that many injuries occur during basic military training. Therefore, inspired by our Health and Wellness class, I decided to do my project on the use of custom orthoses for the prevention of injury during basic military training. To expand the topic this past semester I researched the use of custom orthoses to treat injuries as well.

My capstone project includes the two evidence tables from my research topics, orthoses for prevention and treatment of injuries. The prevention table is specific to the military population but the treatment table includes many different populations although mostly highly active individuals. My project also includes four educational handouts. The first three are meant for the education of physical therapists. I decided on this route because I did not know much on research behind orthoses. I wanted to make materials that would give physical therapists confidence in using this type of intervention by explaining the mechanism of action and the current research. Therefore these three are almost like a series: prevention, treatment, and an in-depth review of specific conditions.

The last handout is meant for potential military recruits given prior to starting basic military training (during the recruitment process or at their physicals). The handout provides basic information about injury rates, what orthoses are, how to obtain them, and how they can help in case of injury. Common problems with adherence to orthoses are addressed in the recommendations section. A list of medical conditions that can be treated with orthoses are given as a reference for recruits.

Because my topic was so educationally based and relies heavily on reading, I will include all four health literacy assessments that I completed on my documents (sam forms- prevention, treatment, in-depth review, and recruit). All but one of the materials ranked as the highest level on the assessment; I realize now that I could have made them more interactive. This was a difficult task for me to complete with the first three handouts because the audience was physical therapists not patients. The last assessment for the recruit education handout was a lot more straight forward. I performed these assessments at mid-term and have made slight adjustments to the materials since then.

I had two amazing committee members for this project, Bob Stone and David Banks, both whom have worked in the military environment. Bob Stone was my clinical instructor at the VA in Salisbury. He had worked as a hospital corpsman in the Navy and took care of a lot of feet. David Banks had a career as a Marine officer. After retiring, he worked with a defense contractor and provided insight on many developing military projects. I received both candid feedback from my advisers as well as had them fill out a simple evaluation form of the materials.

Lastly, for anyone interested, I will post relevant materials from other classes. From Evidence Based Practice II, I will post my final paper that reviews the current literature on custom orthoses for the prevention of overuse injuries during basic military training. At the end of this paper I make suggests on how to further research in this area. I will also post my Health and Wellness final assignment: “Feet First.” The project was a program designed to identify individuals at risk for lower extremity injury and provide them with the correct amount of foot protection/support.

Thanks everyone that has helped me through this process!

Mandy