Building the foundations to use movement as medicine by producing targeted, staged-progressive, isolated and quantifiable exercise effects for the treatment of chronic back and neck pain

This course examines the most current research supporting the use of ‘movement as medicine’, with a specific focus on chronic back and neck pain. Background information regarding the prevalence, risk factors and occurrence and consequence of back and neck pain will be discussed. Targeted, staged-progressive, isolated and quantifiable exercise effects will be analysed in- depth to determine the effectiveness of these practices in the treatment of the complete spine. Theoretical knowledge and practical skills will be explored to determine their role in the professional practice of the Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP). The scope of practice of the AEP in the management of back and neck pain will be clearly identified and examined to establish an understanding of triage and co-treatment when individualising treatment plans. This course explicitly outlines the process involved in establishing an individualised management plan for the treatment of chronic low back and neck pain. There will be a strong focus on the collection of patient history, and the importance of changing patients’ behaviours and misconceptions of back and neck pain. Classifications of back and neck pain will be discussed in detail along with the patterns/categories of back and neck pain. This information combined will be used to determine the optimal treatment pathway for individual patients’ needs.