Article Review Number Two

Article Review Assignment: Therapeutic Benefits of a Specific Activity

Name of Article: “Effects of Therapeutic Golf Rehabilitation on Golf Performance, Balance, and Quality of Life in Individuals Following Stroke: Pilot Study”

Name of Journal: Physiotherapy Canada

Name of Authors: Sari Shatil, Tanya D. Ivanova, George Mochizuki, S. Jayne Garland

When and how did you locate this article?

I located this article by using Murphy Library’s article databases by searching with keywords. I started my search using broader keywords, but wasn’t able to get good results. I then narrowed down my search by using more specific terms based on an activity that I thought would be interesting to research. I ended up locating this article using EBSCOhost on October 24, 2011.

Two paragraph synopsis of what you learned in this article:

This article was a pilot study in which the researches were studying the effects of therapeutic golf rehabilitation (TGR), which includes physiotherapy and golf, on eighteen participants. TGR consists of six components: general fitness, motor control and muscle strength, flexibility, speed of movement, balance and postural control, task- (golf) specific training. The main objective was to evaluate the effects TGR has on golf performance, standing balance, and quality of life in persons at least 6 months after stroke. Participants were randomly placed in two different groups; one group received 6 weeks of TGR, while the other group received 6 weeks of hand therapy followed by 6 weeks of TGR. The participants were also tested at an 8 week follow-up of their treatment. During the study, the participants received three lessons per week, and were asked to maintain their golf routine for at least one day per week during the 8 weeks of post study.

After doing many different tests throughout the study, the investigators found that TGR proved to be beneficial for the participants. Golf performance, functional balance, and quality of life significantly improved after the participants received TGR. I found this article very interesting because I never would have thought about using golf as a type of treatment for stroke patients. The participants benefit greatly from the use of golf as a therapy as well as improve their lives by providing them with a new leisure activity. Having a new leisure activity is very important because it raises the participant’s quality of life and lowers their risk of becoming severely depressed. I learned that golf is a great way to improve balance because it requires the participant to use weight transference frequently. I also learned a lot more of the general components of golf that I hadn’t known before, which I found beneficial.

How will you apply this knowledge to your professional development?

I will be able to apply this knowledge to my professional development because it gave me insight into a type of therapy that I wouldn’t have considered elsewise. I will also be able to recommend this type of therapy to a future client or co-worker as an additional type of therapy. Reading this article also has made me aware of the different therapeutic approaches that are available. I believe the best way to learn is to have hands on experience, but because it isn’t possible to get experience in all the many areas of therapeutic recreation, I think the most efficient way of gaining knowledge in these areas is by reading articles such as this one.

Would you recommend this article for other TR students? Why or why not?

I would recommend this article to other TR students only for the reason that I believe it is important for others to be aware of the many different therapeutic options. I feel some of this article was over my head in terms of the tests that were conducted and how the results were measured. I believe the idea of the article is great, but the content is not much to go off of.