Presentation of a book containing a model of clinical reasoning in kinesiology

junio 6, 2024

This pioneering text in Chile compiles 18 years of experience in the program taught at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UCM.

The paradigm that has trained kinesiologists for 18 years at the Universidad Católica del Maule (UCM) was embodied in a book titled «Function and Dysfunction of Human Movement: A comprehensive-epistemological model» which its author, Hernán Maureira, presented to a full auditorium at the UCM.

«The book gives a sense to the discipline, because it declares that kinesiology is not concerned with “lato” movement, but with the movement that people carry out in the framework of their own chores,» explained Maureira, PhD. in Sciences of Physical Activity and Sports.

The academic, who became Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies of the campus in December 2022, generated a model that gives scientific support to the object of study of Kinesiology: movement with meaning for the person, that is to say, functionality.

«What we do is to restore functionality, which is meaningful movement. The human being is inserted in an environment and understanding that means understanding that nature. The model’s contribution is to the scientific rationality of kinesiology, to the disciplinary theory,» he said.

The professional reasoning model has made a difference in the formation of the School of Kinesiology, the second oldest in Chile and whose origins date back to 1973. Considered a milestone for the sciences of human movement, it has been effectively tested in kinesic care.

«It is a super complete tool since it covers everything that the program sees; health, disease, function and dysfunction, and above all the most important axis, which is the axis of movement. For me, it is a magnificent tool and that it is from the university; very good,» said Emilia Navarro, a second-year student of the program.

Contribution in pandemic

Ramón Pinochet, a kinesiologist at the Padre Hurtado Hospital in Santiago, attended the launch to comment on the prototype’s successful clinical application.

«Before, the instruction was to wait for the prescription and indication of the medicine. Now the procedure is totally the opposite; thanks to the model and the way of interpreting reality, one goes in search of understanding the environment and offering the possibilities of contributing to that environment. It is a significant change,» said the professional, who highlighted the contribution of the tool during the COVID-19 pandemic.

«One of the most life-saving movements was the prone position, with human beings facing down so that they could oxygenate well. Kinesiology contributed to freeing those human beings from mechanical ventilators and so that immediately, as the demand was high, another person who was waiting for a bed could arrive. At that time, it was very powerful to have all this training,» he said.

The event included the intervention of the academic of the institution, Máximo Escobar, who analyzed the curricular changes made from the model, and a round table composed by the director of the department, Dr. Jorge Fuentes, and the director of the Master in Kinesiology, Dr. Antonio Zamunér.

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