At the APTA NEXT 2016 conference, Dr. Carole B. Lewis, PT, DPT, PhD, GCS, GTC, MSG, FAPTA gave the 47th Mary McMillan Lecture titled "Our Future Selves: Unprecedented Opportunities" in Nashville, TN. I was not in attendance, but once the event was over, I was bombarded on social media about the importance of care for our aging population. My initial reaction was joy. "Finally," I thought, "People are getting what I have been talking about for the past 3 years!" But that elation was quickly turned into cynicism. The people advocating for change the most were people whom I had grown to know as having a general distaste for the geriatric population; some of whom had downright ageist viewpoints and had complained about having to work with a geriatric patient instead of a young, recovering athlete in the clinic. Suddenly, I felt catapulted into the Twilight Zone and waited for what seemed like ages for the Tower of Terror to suddenly jerk downwards until everyone's feet were back on solid ground and minds were returned to their rightful place.You may ask yourself, what is wrong with a renewed focus on geriatrics? How could a sudden interest in one of the most difficult populations to obtain appropriate care for be a bad thing? After all, there is strength in numbers right? Yes and no. I am thrilled that this topic was brought to the forefront of our minds. Its important and relevant to all issues related to healthcare. My issue is not with the message which was flawlessly presented, but with the reaction of the PT masses to the topic (or to any major announcement really). There are two types of change agents: those that garner short term results and those that garner long term results. Most of the positive results are incurred short term in a reaction like this, which is not not the solution that we so dearly need right now.
Now, let us dissent....
I'm not saying you can't be interested in or can't explore other realms of PT. For example, I'm not the biggest fan of pediatrics, but if a worthwhile petition to improve service provision to the population comes my way, of course I will sign it. Will I go out of my way to make sure I hunt down every other PT I know to sign it? Mostly likely not. And that is okay. If we all reacted this way to everything, then nothing would be special and no one would be specialized, which is an absolute necessity in our field.
This is similar to the high school student who is aiming for Ivy League schools and signs up for as many extra-curriculars as possible. They don't really like what they are doing, but they see it as a way to get to the next step of what they want to do. The goals in the PT world can be anything from an executive position in the APTA to the glory of all those likes, re-tweets, and social media attention. What ever the underlying motive, if its not an altruistic one, then that individual is sure to crash and burn eventually.
Growing up, my parents had a saying: "If it isn't fun anymore, then don't do it." While this is an over-simplified mantra, and there are a lot of things that aren't fun but should still be done (dentists appointments, paying taxes, etc), there is a lot of merit to it and it has lead me to the successful and happy person I am today. I tried pee-wee basketball, hated it, and never went back. When dance became too stressful (Dance Moms is real, y'all!), I switched studios and eventually stopped to focus on school. When Academic Decathlon turned out to be just as ridiculous as it sounds, I left. When I had to quit a job because of an insufferable co-worker, I found another position that I was even more thrilled to participate in. These may sound like a lot of instances in which I quit, but I don't see it that way. For a short period of time, all these things gave me joy and pride. But then, as circumstances changed, so did my happiness. It was then time to pick up a new hobby or adventure to make sure that I was taking care of myself.
This is why when I see someone tackling issues that I know they actually don't care about, and they are just getting caught up in the hype of "should do" instead of "want to do." I pity that individual. I am a huge proponent of "If I don't want to, then I won't." I can't be made to do anything I don't want or need to do. If it isn't necessary to my survival and/or job, and it's not interesting, then I won't participate in it. Pressure from peers, or even my own mother, can't even change my mind. I feel like this ends up making my convictions stronger in the end because all my actions are backed with the passion to fuel them to success.
I also witnessed a similar instance occur after the previous Mary McMillan lecture. Students whom I had known for years were suddenly interested in research and calling themselves "clinician scientists" when just the previous day they were complaining about how having to complete a research project to graduate from their program was a colossal waste of time. (For reference, our program only required one project and several students in the program - myself included - were able to complete several successfully in that time, so I have no patience for the "waste of time" complaint.) It was equally as amusing as it was annoying watching people get all riled up with the rest of social media and the conference goers only to see them slowly drift back into their old habits.
Now I can relate to the whole research thing. When I found out my senior year of undergrad that I would have to conduct a research study to fulfill my honors capstone requirement, I was pissed. I hated research. It was boring and monotonous and I wasn't interested. However, after creating my own study, carrying it out, and presenting the results at a research symposium, I was hooked and hungry for more. While I consider myself dedicated to the scientific method, this relationship has only been official for the last 4-5 years. I am no means an expert, but in that time I have conducted several other studies and have demonstrated that I am dedicated to this lifestyle.
Look, no one is doubting the fact that research seems cold and heartless. Research doesn't care about your feelings or woes. It simply exists as a venue for information discovery and dissemination. The scientific method is a well-oiled machine with no room for your bullshit. At the end of the day, the results are the results and your job is to figure out how best to present and connect them to the existing paradigms we currently operate under. It's an entire beast in its own right and it is not to be messed with. I don't think that people really understood that when they all jumped on the bandwagon in the summer of 2015.
Now to be perfectly clear, this poor sustainability of action resulting from the lecture topics is not the fault of any of the lecturers, the conference committee, or the APTA as an institution. Their purpose is to showcase their passion and message to the crowd at the conference, in hopes of inspiring lasting change and social engagement. My qualm is with the people who take the message, run with it, get tired, and put it down to rest in some ditch in the middle of nowhere.While NEXT and CSM are great for information dissemination and networking, gone are the days of deep discussion and face-to-face contact in the advent of social media. Using social media to convey a message about something as important as the renewed focus on geriatric care or clinical research results in these vitally critical topics being handled as superficially as the relationships garnered on social media platforms. Sure we get the instant gratification of a topic trending on Twitter, but do we actually see lasting policy change to benefit clinicians and their patients? Not commonly. The facade of "I care about everything" is then shattered and debunked as humanly impossible. Moreover, the dreams of individuals who actually care about these things are often left deferred and no real change is garnered to ensure to future of physical therapy.
In the advent of social media, people get all jazzed up for a few days/weeks/months and then nothing comes of it or people forget about it as the next big thing comes around. Case in point: the ALS ice bucket challenge. People got super into campaigning for raising money for the foundation and then they forgot about it. This was evident through the number of posts I see currently with the link to the research that was actually conducted with the money raised paired with "I forgot about this" statements.
If you are going to make a lasting change, great! But if you pledge, push, and advocate for it, then make sure you follow through. One of my biggest pet peeves is to see someone get excited about something that I am excited about, only to see them back off and change their mind a week later after the conference hype has settled down. The best way to make a lasting change is to align it with interests you already have established. For instance, as a sports PT, you can still advocate for geriatric physical therapy, but that lasting change will come if you actually carry that attitude over to your clinical practice. Examples of this include volunteering as a medical professional for the Senior Olympics or holding a movement/health screen for seniors interested in starting a sports recreation program. When you extend your advocacy efforts too far beyond your prevailing interests, you often don't have enough support or resources to continue to foster growth in that area.
In conclusion, your time is valuable. Don't waste it on an endeavor because you feel like someone is expecting you to or it is what your peers are doing. The only conviction that matters is your own. I don't care if everyone else thinks that something is the best idea ever; if you are not convinced, then its time to figure out why so you can direct your attention to something that reaps lasting benefits for not only yourself, but also your patients.
All memes were created by Heidi Moyer using Meme Generator.
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