APTA Utah

09/03/2026

When a patient is hospitalized, movement can become a clinical decision.

Acute-care PTs work with patients whose medical status may be changing quickly, including people recovering from critical illness, surgery, stroke, or an ICU stay. Their role can involve much more than getting someone out of bed or walking down the hall.

APTA’s acute-care education emphasizes the need to integrate things like vital signs, lab values, neurologic status, cardiopulmonary response, cognition, and functional mobility into decisions about what activity is appropriate and safe.

That means acute-care PT requires constant clinical reasoning: understanding the medical picture, recognizing when mobility is appropriate, and adapting treatment as the patient’s condition changes.

It also happens within an interdisciplinary team, where communication with physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other clinicians can directly shape the plan of care. Physical therapy is an essential part of care.

Acute-care PTs: what is one part of your clinical decision-making you wish more clinicians outside the hospital understood?

09/02/2026

Physical therapy is often associated with injury recovery. But movement problems do not always start with an injury.

Changes in strength, balance, mobility, or endurance can gradually make everyday activities harder long before they become a major problem.

Regular aerobic, strength, and balance-focused activity helps support physical function across adulthood. And when pain, weakness, balance changes, or another health condition begin limiting what you can do, a physical therapist can help assess what is getting in the way.

You do not have to wait until you are sidelined to start paying attention to how well your body is functioning.

What is one thing you want your body to still be able to do 10 years from now?

08/29/2026

Trust doesn't happen automatically between a provider and a patient. It's built.

In this clip from The Healthcare Revolution, Scott Ward talks about what actually creates trust in the treatment room, and why it matters just as much as clinical skill.

08/25/2026

POTS & Beyond Conference | October 26–27, 2026

The University of Utah Department of Neurology is hosting the POTS & Beyond Conference, featuring an 8-hour PT/Rehab Intensive on October 27 designed for rehabilitation professionals treating complex patients.

Learn practical, evidence-based strategies for patients with POTS, Long COVID, ME/CFS, autonomic dysfunction, exercise intolerance, post-exertional malaise (PEM), hypermobility, and other complex conditions.

The intensive will cover pacing, foundational training, safe exercise progression, exercise demonstrations, and specialty considerations for Long COVID, concussion, and functional neurological disorders.

Attend in person in Salt Lake City
Or participate virtually from anywhere
Certificate of attendance provided to apply for CEU credit
Early Bird Discount ends August 31!

Register and learn more: https://loom.ly/EYMRIdA

*This is a paid advertisement.*

08/21/2026

Meet Barbara Sargent, PT, PhD

Barbara Sargent is one of the nation's leading experts in pediatric physical therapy.

She serves as an Associate Professor of Clinical Physical Therapy at the University of Southern California and Co-Director of the USC/Children's Hospital Los Angeles Pediatric Physical Therapy Residency Program.

With more than 30 years of clinical experience, Barbara has helped develop nationally recognized pediatric clinical practice guidelines and assessment tools while advancing research focused on infants and children at risk for cerebral palsy.

Her passion is helping clinicians transform evidence into better care for children and families.

Register: https://loom.ly/DX4aqRk

08/19/2026

NOW AVAILABLE: VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE!

Your profession. Your peers. Your conference, now in person or online.

Join physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students from across Utah for the 51st Annual APTA Utah Fall Conference, November 6–7, 2026.

Attend in person at Utah Valley University or join via live stream and learn from nationally recognized experts:

• Adriaan Louw, PT, PhD, CSMT – Ortho & Neuro Track
• Barbara Sargent, PT, PhD – Pediatric Track

Earn 12 CEUs + 1 Ethics Hour while gaining practical, evidence-based education you can bring back to your practice.

Can't make it to Utah Valley University? Join us virtually from wherever you are.

Early registration pricing ends September 1.

Register today and choose the attendance option that works for you.

https://www.aptaut.org/fall_conference.php

APTA Utah is recognized by the Department of Occupations & Licensing as an official accrediting body. If your organization is sponsoring a continuing education course, APTA Utah can approve your course for Continuing Education Units (CEU) that any attending PT's and PTA's can receive to apply towar...

08/18/2026

Looking to advance your expertise in vestibular rehabilitation?

Advances in Vestibular Rehabilitation: A Competency-Based Course is coming to Salt Lake City this October. Designed for advanced PTs, OTs, and MDs, this intensive course focuses on complex clinical decision-making and differential diagnosis.

October 15–18, 2026
Salt Lake City, Utah

Topics include:
• Hands-on anatomy lab
• BPPV variants
• Concussion management
• Pediatric and geriatric updates
• Vestibular migraine
• PPPD

Early bird registration is open!
Register before September 1, 2026 to save on tuition.
Register: https://loom.ly/R9t1uPc

This is a paid advertisement shared by APTA Utah on behalf of the course provider.

08/17/2026

Two Utah laws are changing what access to physical therapy looks like for patients.

In 2025, SB 196 expanded Utah’s insurance code to recognize physical therapy within primary health care. For applicable plans, patients may be able to choose a participating PT for primary care services that fall within the PT’s scope.

Then in 2026, SB 204 added another important change. For plans subject to the law, insurers must allow patients to select a participating PT for physical therapy services, and the copay, coinsurance, or office-visit deductible for a covered PT visit cannot be higher than the amount charged for a primary care visit.

SB 204 takes effect January 1, 2027.

For Utah patients, that means the path to physical therapy is continuing to become more accessible.

Know a Utah PT, PTA, clinic owner, or healthcare professional who should have this on their radar? Share this post with them.

08/15/2026

Fall sports are back, which means practices, games, tournaments, and training loads are picking up again for athletes of all ages.

Sports physical therapy covers much more than rehabilitation after an injury.

Sports PTs also work in injury prevention, performance, evaluation, and helping athletes return to their sport safely after time away. APTA describes sports physical therapy as a specialty focused on prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, education, and performance for active individuals.

For young athletes in particular, recovery matters alongside training. The American College of Sports Medicine highlights rest and recovery, strength training, proper technique, and communication among athletes, parents, and coaches as important parts of reducing overuse injury risk.

As fall schedules get busier, pay attention to pain that keeps returning, changes in movement, or difficulty keeping up with normal training. Those are good reasons to have an athlete evaluated rather than continuing to work around the problem.

08/13/2026

One of the greatest strengths a healthcare provider can have is knowing when to refer.

Physical therapists are movement experts—but healthcare works best when every provider
contributes their unique expertise.

When a patient’s needs extend beyond physical therapy, referring them to the right physician,
surgeon, psychologist, or specialist isn’t a failure—it’s exceptional patient care.

The goal has never been to keep every patient.
The goal is to help every patient.

When providers work together, patients win.