As a physical therapist and professor at PCOM Georgia, Teresa Pierce, PT, DPT, PhD, PCS, focuses much of her work on understanding function and gait in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Her latest research, conducted in collaboration with Alyssa LaForme Fiss, PT, PhD, PCS, of Texas Woman’s University, was recently featured on the cover of Children.
“We wanted to see how children with and without CP engage in activities at home, school, and within their communities and how factors like motor abilities, age, gender, and household income may or may not influence their participation,” Dr. Pierce shared.
The study employed a new tool called the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth© (PEM-CY) to look at how children participate in three key environments such as home, school and community, and to consider how the environment itself affects participation.
“It’s well-known in the field that children with CP often participate less than their typically developing peers, especially in community settings, and this study confirmed that hypothesis.” However, an unexpected and encouraging finding was that children with CP did participate at similar levels to their peers without CP while at school.
According to Pierce, these findings suggest that schools that provide proper accommodations, improve accessibility and support inclusive activities are able to reduce challenges for children with CP and their access to physical education.
Since participation is a crucial indicator of health and development in children living with CP, regularly assessing how children engage across different environments can help families and healthcare providers identify strategies to boost participation to aid in a better quality of life.
“As physical therapists we can evaluate mobility, recommend interventions, and suggest mobility devices designed to maximize a child's function and participation as they grow,” said Dr. Pierce.
For more than 30 years, Dr. Pierce has practiced physical therapy in a variety of clinical settings. She has extensive experience working with the pediatric population as well as treating adult neurological and orthopedic patients. Most recently, Pierce received first place for the New Investigator Research Award at the 2025 annual meeting of the Association of Children’s Prosthetic-Orthotics Clinics (ACPOC).
PCOM Georgia has been serving students and the community for 20 years as a branch campus of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), a private, not-for-profit, accredited institution of higher education established in 1899. Located in Suwanee (Gwinnett County), PCOM Georgia offers doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy and physical therapy. Graduate degrees are offered in biomedical sciences, medical laboratory science and physician assistant studies. The campus joins PCOM South Georgia in Moultrie in helping to meet the healthcare needs of the state. Emphasizing "a whole person" approach to care, PCOM Georgia focuses on educational excellence, interprofessional education and service to the community. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500. The campus is also home to the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit pcomgeorgiahealth.org.
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