The AFIT (Adult Functional Independence Test) for Optimal Aging
Presented by Carole B. Lewis
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Wouldn’t it be great to have a performance-based functional assessment tool to be used with adults 50 years and older to evaluate the key aspects of functional fitness central to optimal aging: posture, flexibility, balance, endurance, and strength?
This course presents & demonstrates such a tool – The AFIT (Adult Functional Independence Test) for Optimal Aging. All of the measures that comprise The AFIT are supported by research and include predictive analytics; many include national norms.
It is our hope that The AFIT will be a mandatory component of annual physician visits. As one physician commented in our beta test, “I love this. Just like I order blood work, I can order the AFIT for each annual visit. This will provide me with vital information on my patient’s functional status that I don’t have time to get.”
Participants will learn the importance of these measures and observe how to correctly perform the assessment as well as explain the implications to their patients/clients. Evidence based exercises will be provided as suggested resources for the problems identified. The AFIT or parts of it can also be used as an initial, progress or discharge evaluation in most clinical settings.
Course participants will observe 3 case studies, which include counseling patients with regard to the appropriate course of action. Information on marketing this tool to physicians, health agencies, and the community is provided and practical, how-to handouts are included that the course participants can download and use immediately.
Learning Objectives
- List the 15 assessments that comprise the Adult Functional Independence Test (AFIT)
- Determine the norms and cutoffs for each AFIT assessment to evaluate client functional status
- Administer AFIT assessments in a clinical setting
- Determine the implications of AFIT assessment results for promoting optimal aging.
- List 15 exercises that address deficits identified through the AFIT
- Identify evidence supporting the use of each exercise for specific deficits identified by the AFIT
- Select an appropriate intervention based on AFIT results to enhance client independence in daily activities
- Choose a marketing strategy for the medical and general community
- Identify effective strategies to motivate clients to adhere to prescribed home exercise/activity programs
Meet your instructor
Carole B. Lewis
Dr. Carole Lewis has worked in home health, long-term care, acute hospitals, rehabilitation departments and outpatient clinics. She started a private practice in Washington, D.C., in 1981 and continues to work as a clinician. Dr. Lewis received her two master’s degrees in healthcare management and gerontology from the…
Chapters & learning objectives
1. Let’s Get Started: What is the AFIT?
This segment will describe the 15 assessments that comprise The AFIT, demonstrate how to determine where patients/clients fit within the norms and cutoffs for these assessments, and show how to administer these tools.
2. AFIT Evaluation 1: A 90-Year-Old Cougar
This segment will demonstrate how to use the 15 assessments that comprise the AFIT, how to determine where this patient fits within the norms and cutoffs for these assessments, and demonstrate how to administer these tools on a real patient.
3. AFIT Evaluation 2: A 73-Year-Old Busy, Fit, Go Getter
This segment will demonstrate how to use the 15 assessments that comprise the AFIT, how to determine where this patient fits within the norms and cutoffs for these assessments, and demonstrate how to administer these tools on a real patient.
4. AFIT Evaluation 3: A 79-Year-Old Retired Professor
This segment will demonstrate how to use the 15 assessments that comprise the AFIT with a 79-year-old retired professor.
5. AFIT Take Home Tips
After the case studies, this chapter provides extra tips and practical recommendations for clinicians to use when applying the AFIT.
6. Remedies: Exercises for Optimal Aging
Staying active is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for aging adults. This chapter reviews practical exercises for optimal aging.
7. Motivating People to Do the Exercises You Prescribe
Exercise programs are effective only with consistent patient adherence. This chapter describes methods for motivating people to stick to their exercise plans and achieve optimal outcomes.
8. Recognize That Resister
Resisters to exercise plans don’t all look alike. In this chapter, take a break from normal lectures and meet different kinds of resisters in game show form.
9. Motivational Interviewing
This chapter explores motivational interviewing as a technique for reaching patients and encouraging adherence.
10. Marketing Strategies to Get Neighborhood and Medical Community Buy-in
All patients exist in a community network. This chapter provides strategies for building your footprint in local communities to build trust and rapport with your customers.