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Lullaby League is an uber-cool business that helps parents with the tricky task of finding a sitter for their kids.  Join us at the clinic on Wed, April 25th and mix with a dozen prospective sitters

Check out this link for more information.  The mixer is filling up fast so please register as soon as possbible to secure your spot.

**If you are an existing Kids Physio Group client, please contact us for a discount code!

All of us at Kids Physio Group believe that children in Metro Vancouver should have a clinic space designed just for them.  A friendly and motivating space that helps kids meet reach their goals!

We did it! After many months and multiple rounds of intense competition and judging, Kids Physio Group was selected from a very competitive field of our peers as the winner of the 2012 Best Community Impact  award at the Small Business BC SuccessfulYou Awards on February 28, 2012.  A giant, beaming “Thank you” to all who voted and helped with quote, references, and photos and video to get us there!

We certainly have come a long way since opening our doors here on Fraser Street.  With that growth, has come new and interesting challenges each and every day. Stepping back for a moment, there is a common thread that has kept us committed to delivering on our vision thorough this time – our community.

Our community of inspiring kids, parents & caregivers make everything we do worth it. You are the reason why we are excited to come to the clinic everyday.

Our community of therapists, assistants and volunteers allow us to offer a unique and highly specialized service to kids. A service that comes in a variety of forms but with one outcome in mind, nurturing and empowering kids to reach their highest gross motor potential.

Our community of associations (eg.PABC), networks (eg.FWE) and professionals enable us to advocate for positive change.  We want to make a difference in quality of life of our clients and in so doing, in the communities in which they interact day-to-day.

From all of us – myself, Kate, Andrea, Jacquie, Nitin, Zoe, Maegan, Tricia, Kristine and Emily- we are truly blessed to have the opportunity to work with all of you. To be recognized for our impact on the community by a body of our peers and industry professionals puts a strong wind in our sails!  And it didn’t hurt to meet my childhood idol – Trevor Linden!  A truly inspiring evening all around.

-Laura Patrick

Founder, Owner – Kids Physio Group

PDF – Parent Workshop

WHAT: Parent Workshop – Anxiety in Children.  What is it.  What tools do we have to respond?

WHEN: Fri, Feb 24  7-9pm

WHERE: Kids Physio Group

SPEAKERS:  Painted Lighthouse Clinic Counselling – Courtney Nichols & Rebecca Mitchell

COST: Free

This is a great opportunity to learn more about anxiety in children and how your responses can make it worse OR better manage the situations.

There will also be an opportunity to connect and network with other parents.

Please RSVP to admin@kidsphysio.ca or 604.730.6966

Space is limited to 25 participants.

In addition to her Friday clinic days at our state-of-the-art facility in Central Vancouver, Kristine is eager to bring convenient, in-home physiotherapy services to infants, toddlers, youth and teens in North and West Vancouver. Kristine joins the Kids Physio team bringing a wide array of pediatric experience from her years of treating kids in-home, in-school, and in-clinic. 

“ Kids Physio Group helps children reach their maximum potential through effective and fun therapy. I am thrilled to be part of the team and to bring the vision to the North Shore.”  ~ Kristine

***RSVP required for these sessions***

With the weather getting nicer and the holidays behind us, the Kids Physio Staff are feeling motivated to get out and MOVE! Whether you want to walk or run, we would love to see you out and getting in shape with us for the 10km Sun Run on April 15th!

Join us on Sunday Mornings at 10:00am for a walk/run, warm-up and cool-down, full of good conversation, motivation and maybe some coffee/treats when done!

• Feb19th: leave from Kids Physio
  40min walk OR 40 min run

• March 11th: leave from Kids Physio
  50min walk OR 50 min run

• April 8th: leave from Kids Physio
  44 min walk OR 44 min run

Call the front desk or e- mail us for more info!
604-730-6966  admin@kidsphysio.ca

If you are thinking of having your young athletic stars run with you, check out the article below on “Youth Movement” by Marc Bloom on appropriate ages for running longer distances. Children under 13-15 years may not be appropriate to run longer distances due to increased risk for growth related injuries and burn out! http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267–11817-1-1X2X3-4,00.html

Why run/walk with us? Its great to stay motivated by a group and we would love you to join up with our Kids Physio Staff to stay motivated! Here at Kids Physio, we know all the many benefits of stay active, such as: controlling your weight, reducing blood pressure, relieving stress and reducing your risk of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, as well as raising good cholesterol levels which is good for your heart. Lastly…it makes you feel good!

This year, stay motivated for your run by letting us know at the clinic or by e-mail that you plan on running in the Sun Run and we will put you up on our Kids Physio Training wall so you can track your progress!

For great training details on getting ready for your 10k, go to Sun Runs’ website and follow your appropriate schedule: walking, running or trying to run a 10km faster!

http://www.vancouversun.com/2012sunrun/pdf/InTrainingGuide2012.pdf

Our founder and owner is featured in the Business section of today’s Vancouver Sun.  Read here or follow the link at the bottom of the page!

Physiotherapist Laura Patrick wants a baby some day, so she’s structuring her growing business to be an organic part of her future life.

If everything works, her business will neither rule her, nor be an appendage to her family life.

It’s a holistic view, and one that might just stand a chance because Patrick, 33, is methodically planning in advance to fully integrate all aspects of her life.

Patrick started out at Vancouver Coastal Health as a consultant to parents and caregivers of children with physical disabilities. She soon realized that while the children often had funding for her treatment recommendations, there were few places for them to get that treatment.

“It’s hard to bring kids into a typical physio environment,” she said. Children often need one-on-one time, but in most offices, physios rotate among multiple clients during a single appointment. When a mother of a little girl with cerebral palsy going in for surgery told her “I value you input and all, but there’s nobody to do the rehab after discharge from hospital,” Patrick had heard enough. She quit her job and went out on her own.

She started by visiting kids in their homes, and renting space in a downtown office. “My caseload grew very quickly. Parents talk,” Patrick said. “I had no social media, no website.”

Wanting the flexibility to manage her own space, she built a temporary studio in her garage. It didn’t last. For one thing, she got married and started thinking about children. “Working out of your back office can be extremely isolating and challenging on a day-to-day basis,” she said. “It’s a very intense working environment and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain that long term,” and certainly not with children of her own. “If I don’t create something bigger than what this is, this could not survive,” she said. “What if all of a sudden I was injured or whatever?”

She decided to open her own office with other physios to share the workload and provide continuity when she eventually went on maternity leave. Children with physical disabilities often need long-term care and consistency is important.

She approached finding a location with the same holistic approach she was bringing to her own life. Opening an office in the medical district around Broadway and Oak Streets made initial sense, but she realized that for her clients, easy access and free parking would make a huge difference. Major arteries such as Broadway forbid parking from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., the prime after-school appointment time.

Patrick took a map and put in a pin for where each of her clients lived and looked for the midpoint. She eventually took an office on Fraser Street — 15 minutes from everywhere — and right of first refusal on the one next door.

She opened Kids Physio Group with 850 square feet in October 2010 knowing that she would not need employees to make the numbers work, and with the added benefit of low Fraser Street rents. “It was an opportunity to get my feet wet without punching above my weight class,” she said. By August, she had taken over the second space and now has 1,800 square feet.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Small+business+created+with+future+mind/6116512/story.html#ixzz1loAcJv9Q

But so much of our family’s stress was alleviated with our first visit to Kids Physio.  I was so relieved when we walked through the door, and immediately felt welcomed into this visually stimulating, kid oriented, fun, organized and delightful environment.   Oliver, right away, felt excited to get moving!  His physiotherapist, Laura was clearly gifted with child communication skills, and engaged him in such a way, where he was getting a work out, (body and mind!) and having a wonderful time, all the while she watched his every move and did a complete physical assessment. Right off the bat, Laura understood Oliver better than any other professional we had seen in the years leading up to his diagnosis.  She was open, honest and direct with me about what his disease was doing to his little muscles and what she thought she could do to help.  It sounds so simple, but as a mother, the idea of someone actually being able to do something to help him was such a tremendous gift during a time where our whole family had felt so helpless.

Since our first visit, the plan has been carried out by continuous support from the front desk staff; to help find funding and to accommodate our hectic schedules for his weekly visits (Thank you Jacquie!). Each visit is so fun for Oliver and with something new each week we all look forward to coming!  Between my husband, my sister and my mother, we almost argue for who gets to bring him to his next appointment. It truly gives us all so much joy to see him having such a great time, but also for the hope it gives to us for stronger days ahead!

~Jennifer (Oliver’s mom)