FEATURE because it allows me to assess the cause, not only the consequences, of the dysfunction (pain), even if that is the main reason that brings the pa-tients or athletes to us. I would not use any other approach, because the re-sults are never what I want. Lebert: I use the functional model in my practice when I am working with athletes that compete at a high calibre. A functional approach allows me to offer athletes a treatment approach that focuses on improving motor re-cruitment, which helps athletes use their body more efficiently. In addition to athletes, I use the functional model with chronic pain patients or patients that suffer from fibromyalgia. When working with chronic pain patients, the therapist and patient may be left with more questions than answers when using orthopedic assessment. Ansell: I now use functional assess-ment daily in my practice. Where I would previously start with the tradi-tional orthopedic testing and progress from there, I now get more accurate results starting with a functional as-sessment and progress to orthopedic tests as needed. My training in func-tional assessment has streamlined both the assessment and treatment processes where the problems are quickly and accurately assessed and my treatment outcomes have become more successful. Harrison: Functional assessment is applied in order to narrow down my diagnosis of tissues in lesion. I apply multiple functional assessments to confirm or rule out dysfunction. Treat-ment is applied according to the diag-nosis. I pick the best treatment in my toolbox to correct the dysfunction. I recheck the failed functional assess-ments immediately following my treatment to look for improvement in overall mechanics. If my treatment did not provide adequate change, this means I may have treated dysfunc-tional tissue, but not necessarily the relevant ones involved. I then recheck my diagnosis, and apply tests, treat-ment and retest until I’m satisfied that adequate gain has been accomplished. Lomond: A combination of ap-proaches: assessment of participation limitations (OT theory), Exstore, ad-vanced functional assessment – as taught through McMaster University, www.canadianchiropractor.ca CLINICAL Global perspective S Functional assessment from the practitioners’ viewpoint, part 2 of 2 BY ANTHONY LOMBARDI Macquaire University in Sydney, Aus-tralia, Dr. Edward Jarvis from Quito, Ecuador, and Dr. Cyril Fischhoff from the Island of Mauritius; massage thera-pists Richard Lebert of Ontario and Ken Ansell of Saskatchewan; occupa-tional therapist Jason Lomond of Nova Scotia; medical doctor in sports medi-cine Dr. Hugo Pinto from Portugal; and chiropractic students from New York Chiropractic College Kyle Neagle and Steve Martinow. ANTHONY LOMBARDI, DC, is consultant to athletes in the NFL, CFL and NHL, and founder of the Hamilton Back Clinic in Hamilton, Ont. He teaches his fundamental EXSTORE Assessment System and conducts practice-building workshops to health professionals. Visit www.exstore.ca for information. 34 Canadian Chiropractor February 2015 Photo credit: Fotolia ince the popularity of functional assessment and treatment is growing, I wanted to learn and understand how doctors and therapists from around the world used this approach in their practices and how they apply it clinically to see if there were any fundamental differences from the way it is done here in Canada. In part 2 of this series our expert panel answer the last two questions. Our expert panel includes: chiropractors Dr. Timothy Scherz from Quito, Ecuador, Dr. Joseph Armou from South Carolina, Dr. Montgomery Harrison from HOW DO YOU USE FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT/TREATMENT IN YOUR PRACTICE? Pinto: I only use it in my practice
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